LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



Shelf Jyy^Tg: v 



- 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



TALMUDIC 



AND 
OTHER . 



iGENDS 



FACTS AND FICTIONS FROM 
OLDEN TIMES. 



REVISED AND ENLARGED. 



TRANSLATED/ AND COMPILED BY 

T.. WEISS. 



, SECOND EDITION. 



foes- 



NEW YORK: 

Press of STETTINER, LAMBERT & CO., 

22, 24 & 26 Reade Street. 

1888. 



BH58.0. 



Copyright, 18 

BY 

L. WEISS. 



PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION. 

In entering- upon the task of translating and 
compiling legends, it is meet to have a proper un- 
derstanding of the adaptability of legends. 

Legends are narratives conceived by fancy and 
imagination, but they often impart valuable les- 
sons, illustrative and descriptive, in their allegoric 
manner. Pulpit speakers not unfrequently em- 
ploy them to good advantage in elucidating 
sublime precepts and divine doctrines. A le- 
gend, notwithstanding- its mythical and imaginary 
character, conveys sometimes ideas expressive of 
truth incarnate and thoug-ht sublime. 

The Talmud abounds in legends, but I have 
taken special care to compile only such as shall 
be instructive as well as entertaining to the reader 
of whatever denomination. 

In the " Facts, " I have chronicled many histori- 
cal events which the reader will not fail to notice. 

In the " Fictions," the imaginative talents of 
our ancient rabbins and sages are so depicted that 
our esteem, reverence, and respect for them can 
be but heightened. 

In the " Translations " I have added or omitted 
as the occasion required, either to substitute some 
idiom unemployable in the English language, or 
to avoid superfluities unnecessary in the version ; 



IV PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION. 

but I have, in every instance, taken care not to 
destroy the property and originalit}-. 

As to the superscriptions, I have adapted them 
to the lessons the subject is to convey. Thus 
I send out this little work into the world, not as 
my original production, but as a little flower gar- 
den containing some rare plants, collected from 
vast gardens cultivated by gardeners far superior 
in talent and learning to the humble compiler — the 
rabbis of olden times. 

I may not have suited the tastes of all, nor is that 
my expectation, for 

" He that writes, 
Or makes a feast, more certainly invites 
His judges than his friends; there's not a guest 
But will find something wanting, or ill-drest," 

but fondly hope that this little volume will find 
favor with many, and they will aid me in scatter- 
ing, to some extent, the grains of liberality and 
profundity of our sages of yore, thus causing the 
slanderers of the Talmud and ancient Hebrew lit- 
erature to blush. With this object in view, I com- 
mend it to the kind indulgence of the reader. 

L. Weiss. 

Helena, Ark., June, 1884, 5644 a.m. 



PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION. 

Encouraged by the financial success of my first 
edition, and the favorable criticism it has received 
from the press, both religious and secular, not- 
withstanding its many defects, owing to the utter 
lack of experience of the publishers in book print- 
ing — having been published at Helena, Ark., a 
village — I issue a second edition, amended, revised, 
,and enlarged, making it more interesting and in- 
structive, as well as compatible with all readers of 
whatever denomination, and hope that it will re- 
ceive the same welcome as its predecessor re- 
ceived. 

L. Weiss. 

Columbus, Ga., June, 1888, 5648 a.m. 



CONTENTS. 





?AGE 


Origin of Shakespeare's Shylock, . 


I 


Beware of Hypocrites, .... 


II 


The Help of God, . . . . . 


. 20 


All's Well that Ends Well, . 


28 


Charity Knows no Creed, 


• 35 


The True Religion, .... 


39 


While There is Life There is Hope, 


. 44 


Eliezer Ben Hyrkanus, 


. 48 


The Two Strangers of Worms, 


• 52 


Hillel's Patience, .... 


55 


Rashi, 


. 58 


Man's Three Friends, .... 


61 


Is Labor Disgraceful ? . . 


. 64 


A Lesson to be Tolerant, 


66 


The Profit in Accepting Advice, 


. 63 


Bitterer than Death, .... 


7i 


Primeval Monotheism, ... 


• 75 


Who is Admitted to Heaven, 


- 7^ 


The Serpent, 


. 82 


A Time for Religion, .... 


. 84 


Evidence from Nature, .... 


. 3/ 


Wise Mourning, ..... 


90 


Contentment, 


. 91 


Self-Dependence, . 


93 



Vlll 



CONTENTS. 



Mea 



Due Reward, 

Woman's Constancy, 

Handsome is Who Handsome Does, 

The Measure you Measure With is 

sured Unto You, .... 

The Wickedness of Sodom, 
Martyrdom of Hanina, 
Martyrdom of Akiba, 
Never Too Late Too Learn, 
No Escape from Punishment, 
God's Law in Quality, Not in Quantity, 
The Youthful Comforters, 
Where Gold Takes the Place of Knowledge 
Obedience Due to Rulers, 
Evolution of God's Law, 
Quality Better Than Quantity, 
Hospitality, .... 
The Dervish and the Infidel, . 
Be Not Fanatic, 
The Rightful Father, 
How to Drink, 
The Sweetest Condolence, 
Israel's Faith in God, . 
The Benediction, 
Vanity, .... 

Power of the Tongue, 
The Power of God, 
Justice and Truth, 
Greatness is not in Tumult, 
A Point of Law, 
Learning Better than Gold, 



CONTENTS. 



IX 



The Purest Sacrifice, 

Gam Zu LTobah, 

The Hereafter, 

Filial Honor, .... 

The Computation of Life-Time, 

Veritable Charity, 

Why God Destroys No Idols, 

Method of Teaching, 

Respect the Custom, 

Convert Your Own before You 

Others, . 
Spirit of Advancement, . 
Humane Law, .... 
Let Hard Work Not Scare You, 
A Time to Honor Man, . • 

Envy is Not Profitable, 
Indiscreet Help, .... 
Power of Speech, 
Singular Uprightness, 
Lie and Vice, .... 
Why Israel was Chosen by God, 
Israel's Sacrifice, 
The Synagogue God's Abode, 
The Sabbathic Angels, 
The Sureties of God's Law, 
Tolerance, .... 

Why Woman was Made from a Rib, 
Of All, God is Most Merciful, 
Golden Advice, 
A Benevolent Thief, . 
Span of Life, 



Convert 



CONTENTS. 



The Balm of Life, 

Fire of Religion, 

Injudicious Prayer, . 

Why the Decalogue was given in 

derness, 
Religious Love, 



A Faithful Shepherd, . 
Constancy, . 

Sabbath vs. Week Daj^s, 
Keep Aloof from the Tempter, 
The Magnitude of Repentance, 
God is Everywhere, 
A Generous Revenge, 
Who are the Children of God, 
The Altar A Promoter of Life, 
A Virtuous Woman, 
Solomon and Ashmedai, 
Gems from the Talmud, . 



the 



Wil 



169 
170 

170 

171 

172 
172 
173 
173 

174 
174 
175 
i75 
175 
176 
176 

175 
180 



ORIGIN OF SHAKESPEARE'S SHYLOCK. 

It was on a bright October night after the gates 
of the Ghetto* were closed that a darkly clad gen- 
tleman, apparently of high rank, tall and stately 
in form and commanding in appearance, stood out- 
side as if anxiously waiting for some one to come. 
Presently the gate was opened and a small indi- 
vidual, seemingly of low rank, came out, and the 
following dialogue ensued, opened by the first gen- 
tleman : 

"Well, Portica, what have you accomplished? 
Have you succeeded in gaining me the inclination 
of the prudish Jewess ? Have you moved heaven 
and hell to gratify my desire ? " 

" I have accomplished nothing," answered the 
little man, whose voice was that of a woman. " I 
have accomplished nothing. The maiden remains 
as prudish as ever, insusceptible to flattery and 
threats alike. I might have shown her heaven it- 

* Quarters assigned for the habitation of Jews, originally at Rome 
and afterwards in other cities. These quarters were inclosed by- 
walls and the gates leading to the principal part of the city were 
closed at sundown, and no Jew was allowed to pass them after this 
hour A guard stood there for this purpose, and only by special per- 
mission was he allowed to open the gate for Jews. 



2 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

self and offered her all it contains, and she would 
still remain invincible and insuperable. Grief- 
stricken as she is, with tearful eyes and ghastly 
countenance she threw herself at my feet, clasping 
my knees convulsively, and under lamentable sobs 
begged for mercy and compassion for her despair- 
ing and unfortunate father. Indeed, that Jewish 
maiden unnerved me so that I had to struggle 
hard to conquer my emotions and remain firm, re- 
peating the price of your mercy. I, Signor Za- 
vello, have done my part faithfully. I have used 
all exertions, leaving nothing that I could do un- 
done. I have praised your youth, your beauty, 
and your prominence, and described your wealth, 
your love, and your affection for her ; then I have 
portrayed in agonizing terms the doom that 
awaited Shylock, her father, for not being able to 
meet the payment of the thousand sequins* he 
owes you, but in response she only found words of 
begging and imploring for mercy. She entreated, 
she whined, she wrung her hands — she drew from 
her finger a diamond ring, a relic and inheritance 
of her mother, offering it to me. Her festal attire 
she placed at my disposal that 1 should olead in 
her behalf, but I remained immovable. 

" When she saw that all was of no avail, she 
sprang to her feet like an exasperated lioness, her 
countenance assuming an appearance of determi- 
nation, and with utter indignation she exclaimed, 
' So my father must die ! — let him die ! My igno- 

* A sequin is about three English shillings. 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 3 

miny and disgrace shall ?w/and will not be his ran- 
som ! Nor does my father desire it. Ah, let him 
die, I will soon follow him and my beloved 
mother — and you — ' addressing herself to me — 
' you bestial pandress, leave my sight or else I 
will lay hands on you ! ' So infuriated was she 
that her two black eyes sparkled like burning 
coal, her dark disheveled hair waved, like they 
were snakes, around her ivory neck, and her 
cheeks were burning red from fury. I deemed it 
the safest and wisest to leave the apartment, and 
I hurried away." 

" And shall I abandon this precious prize ! " ex- 
claimed Zavello. " Shall I be unable to possess 
that pretty Jewess ! Shall I renounce the charm- 
ing Jessica ! No, I will not ! " " Well," said Por- 
tica, " I would not go again in that Jewish house. 
I would not venture again to approach that Jewish 
maiden, and I would advise you too, Antonio, to be 
careful and precautious." 

" Precautious ! " interrupted him Zavello with a 
forced and satiric laugh. " These Hebrew vermin 
only bend when you tread on them. Nay, if every- 
thing has hitherto failed — if no means could bring 
the stubborn and stiffnecked Jewess to subjection 
— in one thing I shall surely succeed. To-morrow 
I will cause to glorify the October Festival- of the 
Romans in such spectacular manner that even in 

* October was with the Romans a mon th of festivals . The eleventh 
was the Meditrinalia, in honor of Meditrina, on the thirteenth was 
Eaunalia, on the fifteenth the Enquiria, and thus the first of the 
month was ushered inwith a chief of festivals. 



4 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

Diocletian's time, when the defenceless Christians 
were cast before the wild beasts, such was not seen. 
Preparatory to this I have to-day spent gifts in pro- 
fusion among the populace, and donations in abun- 
dance among the poor. This will undoubtedly 
make it appear that I am grateful for the favorable 
decision that was rendered in my suit against the 
Jew whom I sued for the thousand sequins. To- 
morrow the whole city will be in locomotion ! Ah, 
what noise and turbulence there will be ! The 
laziest sleeper will rise early. As for our Holy 
Father, I will but pay him the debt which we all 
owe him in his own coin. He thinks that with his 
justice and strictness he can suppress everything 
and trample under his feet our old prerogatives. 
He will now experience how we can utilize his 
strict justice, and how the Baron can turn his own 
weapon against him." A satiric laugh then rang 
into the air which concluded the audience and, 
with a few formal salutatories, the two parted and 
were soon lost sight of in the darkness of the 
night. 

Felix Peretti, Cardinal De Montralto, was at 
this time pope, known as Sixtus V. He has given 
glorious examples of true Christianity, and above 
all has established strict justice. During five 
years of his popedom, Rome was raised to the 
highest standard of law and order, and the church 
was governed by righteousness and justness in- 
stead of anarchy as theretofore. The barons and 
nobleman who ruled and ruined the state he had 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 5 

shorn of their licentious sovereignty, so, that wher- 
ever the arm of Sixtus reached security and justice 
prevailed. To ferret out all evil he would often 
leave at evenings and nights the Vatican, garbed in 
various robes, and visit some dense quarters in 
order to acquaint himself with the necessities to 
restore law and order. To this effect he had a 
secret passage to the Vatican and nobody knew of 
his plans. The night our history speaks of, Sixtus 
was robed as a beggar and was rambling in various 
directions ; when in front of the Ghetto he saw the 
tall gentleman full of anxiety and expectancy. He 
knew that something must have been up, and he 
withdrew into a remote place where he could not 
be seen, but he could overhear all the above con- 
versation. It was the very gifts and presents dis- 
tributed by Antonio Zavello that brought out the 
pope that day, for he knew that without benefit 
to himself in some way or other that baron was 
not so generous. He went out as a beggar, and 
received alms like all beggars, and chatted with 
them like an equal. In this capacity he conversed 
with an old mendicant, experienced in the profes- 
sion, and he elicited this statement : " Antonio Za- 
vello's desire will be gratified to-morrow, wherefore 
he indulges in this almsgiving to-day. I pity the 
poor Jew whom he loaned the money. He was a 
fool to pledge a pound of flesh — now he will feel 
it, and the people will have the grandest spectacle 
they ever witnessed." The pope was surprised to 
hear this and went into detailed inquiries and 
learned that this infamous verdict was the decision 



6 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

of the court. His heart yearned for justice, and 
he hurried to the Ghetto to learn all the particu- 
lars of the case. He spent the day in this way, 
and it was drawing- towards evening when he left 
the Ghetto. He saw a Jewish maiden hurrying* 
into her quarters, she looked the picture of de- 
spair and her features resembled almost that of a 
maniac. The pope, placing himself right before 
her path, asking the reason of her excitement and 
why she so hurried, but she begged to be excused, 
giving as the reason of her haste the lateness of the 
hour and the fear of being locked out from the 
Ghetto. The pope reached a coin to the gate- 
guard, whereby he assured her that the gate would 
be opened to her even after closing time, but she 
still looked distrustful and begged to be let alone. 
The sweet demeanor of Sixtus, however, quoting- 
to her words of divine origin such as, " Behold 
the Keeper of Israel shall neither sleep nor slum- 
ber (Psalm ci. 4) seemed to inspire her with 
more confidence, and she listened to the soothing 
words of the great prelate in humble garb. He 
was telling her how the mighty Goliath was con- 
quered by the lad David, and how the exiled boy 
Joseph, by his advice, saved thousands from starva- 
tion, " is it then not possible, my child," asked 
he, " that I may be able to advise or help you in 
your trouble ? " She then broke her reticence and 
told the sweet comforter that she just came from 
Zavello ; that her name was Jessica, the daughter 
of Shylock, a Jew, who foolishly signed a pledge 
of a pound of flesh from the nearest spot to his 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. J 

heart, in case he should not be able to pay a debt 
of a thousand sequins, and, " alas ! alas ! " — here she 
burst into tears — " Zavello intends to carry into ef- 
fect to-morrow the conditions thus made." " Why,'* 
asked Sixtus, " was your father so careless in 
signing a document like that, when the Jews other- 
wise are shrewd and foresighted ?" " Ah ! " ex- 
plained Jessica, " Zavello appeared to be our 
friend, visiting our house for the past year almost 
daily, and my father owing him for rent, and some 
cash advancement which became due, he was per- 
plexed and agitated. He asked for further time, 
but Zavello was reluctant in granting this without 
security, which my father was unable to furnish, 
and Zavello proposed, which seemed to be more 
a joke than earnestness, that he would accept as 
security a pound of flesh of the nearest spot to 
my father's heart, and, he, taking it for a joke, ap- 
pended his name to this contract " — here she 
sobbed bitterly, as she concluded, " and now the 
human tiger wants to relinquish his claim only at 
the expense of my ignominy, to which neither I 
would consent nor would my father desire it." 
The kind pope whispered more words of hope 
and comfort into her ears and bid her a pleasant 
good-night. She hastily entered the gate and he 
remained there in deep pondering. This was the 
time when he overheard the conversation of An- 
tonio Zavello and his pander. 

Early next morning the place called Bocca 
Delia Verita was the scene of gathering of specta- 



8 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

tors to the coming event. The throng was so 
great that some could find no standing room and 
they crowded up on windows and roofs near by. 
This was the place where Shylock was brought to 
by guards of armed soldiers, his coreligionists 
standing in awe and despair afar off, with only two 
at his side supporting him, which made it appear 
so much more heart-rending. 

The doomed Jew was weeping bitterly and 
praying — praying so loud that his voice and words 
were heard audibly, but it aroused no sympathy, 
and he was just concluding his prayer, in the 
words all prayers of Israelites end, " In Thy hand, 
O God, I commend my spirit ! " when the great 
silence of spectators was broken by murmurs per- 
ceptible in the crowd. All eyes turned toward the 
side whence the murmur issued, and behold, a 
rider, apparently a senator of the Holy See, press- 
ing his way to the place of execution, arriving not 
too soon to give a commanding " Halt ! " to the 
officer who was about in the act of applying the 
knife to Shylock's flesh. 

Thus stopping further proceedings, he stepped 
before the cruel baron, addressing him in a cordial 
manner: "Antonio Zavello, his holiness, our 
father, requests you through me, his senator, to 
withdraw your strict measures which you are 
about to carry out on the poor Hebrew." 

" I simply demand my right," replied Zavello 
somewhat supremely, " and his holiness will assur- 
edly not be inclined to deprive me of this." 

" Most assuredly not," asserted the senator sig- 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 9 

nificantly. " But a crime the Hebrew has not 
committed, and the thousand sequins he owes you 
I have with me to refund your claim ; accept them, 
then, and let mercy precede right." 

" The pledge is forfeited," declared Zavello, 
and I care not for the money. I want the flesh of 
the Jew." The senator became stern, and in words 
that conveyed importance, he once more addressed 
the baron : " Antonio Zavello, I call upon you, in 
the name of his holiness, for the third time to re- 
linquish your claim on the Hebrew, Shylock, who 
is known as an honest and an upright man, since 
the money he owes you is forthcoming ; " to 
which Zavello replied disdainfully : " My determi- 
nation is unchangeable. I insist upon my right ! " 
" Well, then," said the senator addressing himself 
to the officials and executives, " if such is the case, 
we will admit a witness who has incontrovertible 
evidence in favor of the Hebrew," and at a signal 
the pope's military, headed by himself, sprang into 
sight as if by magic, and in another moment 
Antonio stood face to face with the just pope who, 
in a thundering voice, addressed him : 

" Antonio Zavello ! I am that witness, and I bear 
testimony to your villainy. I overheard your 
conversation last night with one Portico, which is 
evidence that you hypocritically show yourself a 
good Christian, while, in fact, you are a traitor to, 
and the ruin of, Christianity. You claim that your 
demand and proceeding is your right, and it is 
justice ; bear then in mind that there is also a law 
existing which prohibits, under penalty of death, 



10 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

any relationship whatsoever of a Christian with a 
Jewess, of which you are guilty, and to which I 
bear testimony. I then give you one hour to pray 
and prepare to die for this offence, and the Hebrew 
shall receive the thousand sequins I had ready for 
you, as indemnity for the pang and suffering you 
prepared for him." Then turning to the Israelites 
that stood by, he gave orders to take Shylock to 
his daughter and friends. 

This romance of Italian fiction undoubtedly 
must have given Shakespeare material to write his 
" Merchant of Venice." Knowing, however, that 
the people were immature and disinclined to re- 
ceive a drama which should favor the Jew, he 
reversed the denominal characters and made some 
other changes conforming to his ideas, never think- 
ing probably that an imaginative fiction should so 
infest the heart with prejudice for a race as did the 
romance of the Merchant of Venice. 



BEWARE OF HYPOCRITES. 

Once upon a time, long, long ago, there lived in 
a city in the Orient a man of profound knowledge 
and unlimited learning. 

He was wise as he was old, 
Truth his words to all unroll'd. 

He had but one child, a son, who was very much 
attached to his aged father who, at this time, lay 
prostrated by lingering illness. The devout son 
was sitting at the bedside of his father, weep- 
ing silently over the supposed approach of his 
last moments, who seemed to have fallen into a 
slight relieving slumber. But it was only for a 
short duration, for he soon awoke and mustered all 
the strength he could to erect himself into a sitting 
posture. He beckoned his beloved Samai to his 
bedside, and in feeble voice began his last admoni- 
tion : 

" My son ! oh, my son ! " said he, " I f — e — e — 1 
m — y e — n — d i — s dr — aw — ing n — i — gh ! ac- 

c — e — pt m-y 1 — 1 — a — s — st w — o — r — d — s 

th — e — r — e i — s " he pointed to a little chest 

in a corner of the humble abode, hardly able to 
utter any more words distinctly, his eyes resting 
fixed at the corner, and his hand and figure still 
pointing to the chest ; he wanted to force out some 
words yet, and hardly audible said : " Be — be — 



12 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

w — w — a — re o — f — f — f hy — th — e — r — re the — r" 
He could not finish the sentence. He sank back 
and expired. 

" Before decay's effacing fingers, 

Have swept the lines where beauty lingers." 

The funeral and proper time allotted to mourn- 
ing was over before Samai had for the first 
time thought of the chest, and opening it found 
nothing more than a sealed letter containing some 
useful hints for the guidance of his youthful life ; 
and the concluding words written in large letters 
with three underlines, " BEWARE OF HYPO- 
CRITES ! " which he understood must have been 
the words his father wanted to utter ere he died. 

Samai inherited all the virtues and qualities of 
his father, and carried his name untarnished from 
boyhood to manhood. He lived in lonely blessed- 
ness, 

" But after time he deemed to see, 
It is not good alone to be," 

and concluded to lead to the hymeneal altar one 
of the most fair damsels, whom he chose, not for 
her wealth or riches, but for her qualities of virtue 
and modesty. To God he raised his voice in 
prayer of praise and thanksgiving that he had 
found such precious jewel, for " a virtuous wife 
is the crown of her husband " (Prov. xii. 4) said 
Solomon the wise, and 

Samai with his pious wife 
Led a happy, blissful life. 

Once so it happened that there was a grand fair 
of beautiful and extraordinary exhibitions of the 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 1 3 

rarest wares, and the affectionate husband urged 
his beloved wife to dress and attend with him the 
fair that they might see the exposition, and she 
might choose something for herself, which he was 
willing to make her a present of ; but she protested 
seriously. " Were it not a gross violation of a 
woman's chaste qualities? Samai, my dear," said 
she, "you are guileless and may not be aware how 
wicked men are, and how easily they are tempted 
by dress and appearance. May I not be the cause 
of some men conceiving evil inclinations, when I 
thus should appear in public ? No, no ! I will 
not go — you better go alone. 



A pious wife, a virtuous spouse, 
Is best protected in the house." 



Awestruck stood the husband, intently listening 
to his wife's declaration, and his father's last warning 
and will forced itself into his memory, reverberat- 
ing in his mind, " Beware of hypocrites ! " O God r 
could it be that the love of his admiration, the af- 
fection of his soul was a hypocrite ? His heart felt 
like bursting, and he silently withdrew, visiting the 
exposition alone, not for the sake of seeing the 
rarities, but for the sake of drowning his suspicious 
pang amidst the throng and merriment ; but the 
wound so suddenly inflicted penetrated too deep 
to heal so quickly. His feelings, in thinking that 
his pious and talented wife considered him an 
insufficient protector in public, were so hurt that 
happiness almost forsook his breast, and yet, after 
maturer consideration, he thought, might this not 



14 TALMUD1C AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

be real purity? Might not his Miriam have 
spoken out of sheer innocence ? In justice to her, 
therefore, and in order to restore that felicity so 
suddenly vanished, he concluded to test this, for 
which purpose he contrived a plan. The follow- 
ing day he announced to his beloved wife that ur- 
gent business called him away from home, and that 
he would have to leave her for a few days. Miriam 
was shocked at this announcement. She felt 
miserable at the thought of being left alone, but as 
it was inevitable, she fell on her husband's neck 
weeping and kissing him with most tender affec- 
tions, and Samai nearly disbanded all his suspi- 
cions, yet he was bent on the trial. The words of 
his father, "Beware of Jiypocrites," recurred to his 
mind, though he loved Miriam as only man can 
love. He believed her an angel, 

" Yet he was jealous, though he did not show it, 
For jealousy dislikes the world to know it." 

His horse was saddled and ready, he kissed away 
the tears of his adored wife, and bidding her a 
tender adieu he lifted himself in the saddle and 
away he rode. Not very far did he travel, how- 
ever, before he drew the reigns of the horse to 
return whence he started, and by the time it was 
dark, Samai was in the city again taking up his 
quarters at an inn. He tarried there awhile, then 
leaving his horse, he wended his way towards his 
own residence. It was near midnight, silence pre- 
vailed all around when he stood before his house. 
His breast was filled with presentiments when he 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 1 5 

discovered the outer door unfastened and unse- 
cured. His heart throbbed and his courage 
almost failed him at the idea to steal on his 
wife unawares. He felt as if he would commit an 
unpardonable wrong, but his happiness depended 
on this, his jealousy could only be erased by this 
action, and he entered boldly, ascending the stairs 
till he reached the door of his wife's apartment, 
which he quickly opened without notice and 
warning, and, oh horror ! — his suspicion was real- 
ized ! and furthermore, would he not have beat a 
hasty retreat, his wife's paramour would have 
felled him by a dagger. 

"Oh ! colder than the wind that freezes 

Founts, that but now in sunshine play'd, 
To that congealing pang, that seizes 
That trusting bosom when betray'd." 

How dark and dreary was the night ! Not a star 
was visible on the celestial expanse ! And amid the 
stillness of the slumbering city there was but one 
pedestrian in the streets, to whom all was doubly 
dark, and that was Samai. Fearing to tarry in his 
own house that night, he was wandering the 
streets when some officers of the law seized him, 
and took him to the prison where he was cast into 
a cell, there to await his doom, what for he knew 
not. Fain would he have given his life, though 
guiltless of any offense, if his name would only re- 
main untarnished, were his thoughts while he lan- 
guished in prison. 

Next day he was taken before the Kalif (judge), 
where he learned that the Sultan's treasury was 



IO TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

robbed, and by advice of a dervish (an Islam priest), 
the streets were searched, and Samai being the 
only pedestrian at such late hour, he was arrested 
and imprisoned. Alas, alas ! he could not even 
prove his innocence ! All assertions were of no 
avail, and according to existing laws he was sen- 
tenced to be beheaded. 

" How sweetly could I lay my head 

Within the cold grave's silent breast, 
When sorrow's tears no more are shed, — 
No more the ills of life molest ! " 

might poor Samai have thought, but to die as a 
criminal is bitter ! And }^et there seemed no salva- 
tion for him. A meek dervish came to him in the 
prison, and in the sweetest words imaginable 
urged him to confess and repent, begging him to 
accept Mohammed's faith. His exceeding display 
of piety caused Samai to ask himself, " Is he not a 
hypocrite? " This dervish visited him over and 
over again, employing himself with seeming anxi- 
ety with the welfare of the soul and future bliss of 
the poor prisoner, which he asserted could only be 
had if he confessed, which Samai could never and 
would never do, innocent as he was. ■ The time 
arrived, and he was led to the scaffold, preceded 
by an escort of soldiers, headed by the execu- 
tioner and the pious dervish. Arrived at a place 
where a heap of dung lay piled, the dervish 
bid the procession to carefully pass around the 
spot, " for," said he, " we might tread on ana 
kill some of the worms, and it were sinful to thus- 
destroy God's creatures." 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. \J 

"A creature of amphibious nature, 
On land a beast, a fish in water ; 
That always preys on grace or sin, 
A sheep without, a wolf within." 

This piece of hypocrisy Samai could endure no 
longer. Was he not God's creature, and yet was 
not spared, while this meek dervish might have 
been able to assist him in procuring evidence es- 
tablishing his guiltlessness if he was so humane 
and so divine? Yet he pities the worms, and can 
see a human being led to the scaffold. And he 
called for the principal official, to whom he de- 
clared that it was the dervish who robbed the Sultan s 
treasury. The procession was caused to halt, "and 
the dervish was apprised of this information, 
which, for the moment, and coming so unawares, 
visibly rilled him with consternation. This brought 
among the officials a hurried consultation, and this 
delay so enraged the heretofore meek dervish that, 
in his forgetfulness, sprang with his horse on the 
innocent worms, killing thousands of them him- 
self. He attempted to inspire the officials with 
patriotism in carrying out the mandate of the law, 
and he called upon them in the name of the coun- 
try, Mohammed and God not to falter ; but this 
delay reached the ear of the Kalif, who being a 
just judge, quickly dispatched a horseman after 
the procession, and they were ordered to return. 
The dervish seeing his plan thwarted, sought op- 
portunity to abscond, but he was taken into cus- 
tody and placed into the hands of the authorities. 
j\ search at his residence really revealed a part of 



l8 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

the stolen treasures, and Samai was released. The 
Kalif, astonished at Samai's conduct, asked him 
how he knew that the dervish was the thief, and 
why he did not disclose it sooner, instead of risk- 
ing his life. To which Samai first related his 
father's last will, then explained that he knew not 
of the guilt of the dervish. " But," said he, " see- 
ing the great hypocrisy he displayed, and becom- 
ing aware that he was the court dervish, who 
generally has free access to the Sultan's palace, I 
risked the accusation. I had nothing more to lose, 
my life was mine no longer, and I could only re- 
gain it, or lose it any way, consequently I have de- 
nounced him." Meanwhile the officials were ac- 
tively in search of the robbed treasures yet 
unfound, and they have discovered them at the 
house of a lady the dervish often visited, and were 
brought before the Kalif, together with the woman. 

At her entrance, she perceived Samai at the side 
of the Kalif, and she shrieked, and fainted away. 
Samai sprang to his feet, his countenance became 
ghastly, his whole form shook like a leaf, and his 
lips were clasped as in agonizing pain. This the 
Kalif could not fail to see, and, seeming strange to 
him, asked for an explanation. Samai's manly 
figure was bent, and, the tears coursing down his 
cheeks, he began. " O Miriam, Miriam ! It is 
my wife, Miriam! She accused of complicity of 
this crime!" And the whole of the matter be- 
came disclosed. 

That memorable night when the treasury of the 
Sultan was robbed, the dervish, who was the rob- 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 19 

ber, took a part of it immediately to Miriam, and 
was in her company just at the time when her 
husband unexpectedly returned, as related. The 
dervish grasped a dagger, and would have ended 
Samai's life would he not have fled. What was 
now best to do for the dervish — he quickly deci- 
ded to go to the Kalif, and advised to search the 
streets and arrest all out so late at night, knowing 
that Samai must have been out. The plot was a 
shrewd one and a successful one. The Kalif saw 
it all clear, and ordered the execution of the der- 
vish, but, in behalf of Miriam, Samai prostrated 
himself, pleading and supplicating for mercy, 
which, at length, was granted, and she was released. 
But they have not lived together thereafter, 
although he still loved her, which was evident from 
the fact how piteously he implored the Kalif in her 
behalf. He secured her pardon, and provided for 
her sufficiently to last her for lifetime ; but his hap- 
piness was marred, his bliss destroyed, and the 
wound was incurable. He lived a solitary life of 
piety and purity, with the counsel of his dying 
father deeply engraven in his memory and heart : 
" Beware of hypocrites ! " 

— Kav Hajaskar, 52. 



THE HELP OF GOD. 

Over two centuries ago, there lived in the city 
of Prague a poor Jew, Rabbi Pinchas, who was a 
pious and an upright man. His humble occupa- 
tion was that of a buyer and seller of junks and all 
second-hand articles, in daytime, and occupying 
many hours of the night with the study of Jewish 
law and lore. 

With all his energy and hard work, R. Pinchas 
was unable to earn a sufficiency to support his 
household, and would often have suffered want and 
privation were it not that a kind count took a fancy 
to him and extended him many a help. 

Every Friday Pinchas would come to the count, 
and the nobleman would ask him what he earned 
that week and what it lacked to keep him during 
his Sabbath and further, w r hich he would liberally 
add. Pinchas was undoubtedly very grateful 
for this generosity, but his pious zeal prompted 
him to recognize in the count an angel of God and, 
instead of expressing personal thanks, he would 
always say: "Thank God ! who forsaketh not His 
children, he hath helped me again," or something 
to this effect. Often the count would ask after 
some holiday, to which he helped Pinchas liberally, 
how he passed them, and Pinchas would answer: 
" God hath helped." Once the count ill-took his 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 2 1 

demeanor and, thinking- him an ungrateful man, he 
muttered to himself, " I heap upon this Jew kind- 
ness upon kindness, helping- him to be able to keep 
his Sabbath and his holidays, and yet he thanks 
his God that He had helped him. I will once see 
how his God will help him if I shall withhold my 
charity from him, especially now that the Passover 
is coming on. 

The time approached, and Pinchas as usual came 
to see his benefactor and humbly informed him 
that next day would be Passover eve. But how 
shocked was poor Pinchas when the count told 
him : " Dear Pinchas, I am now somewhat embar- 
rassed financially, and am very sorry that I cannot 
help you as I always did ; you must try to get 
your matzos (unleavened bread) the best way you 
can. I hope the God of Israel will help you in 
some other way ; " Pinchas only shrugged his shoul- 
ders and sorrowfully said : " Well, what is to be 
done ? God will help," and gave the count a friendly 
salute and departed for home. We can imagine the 
sad disappointment of the poor wife and the ragged 
little children when he apprised them of the un- 
pleasant news that the count gave him nothing. 
Every holiday that nobleman would send clothing 
for the little ones and other necessities, and just 
now when he had a very bad week and scarcely 
bread in the house, poor Pinchas for the first time 
had to leave him without receiving the least aid. 
His wife was ill-humored about it, but not a murmur 
escaped her lips; and he, like nothing would be the 
matter, retired into his humble little room where 



22 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

he said his night prayer, after which he sat down 
to a folio-sized book to read and study. The mid- 
night hour was not far, the children all have slept 
soundly, and the wife, too, had closed her eyes in 
slumber, R. Pinchas alone was awake, engaged in 
deep meditation over some Talmudic passage, 
when, at a sudden, the little window in his room 
was tore open with such rashness that its panes 
clashed, and a chorus of voices shrieked out in the 
air, at the same time an ugly-looking creature 
fiew in and fell down at his feet. Pinchas sprang 
from his seat terrorized, calling on God for help, 
thinking that it was some unclean spirits that 
visited his abode. He muttered some rabbinic 
prayers, composed for the banishment of such 
spirits, ere he would even venture to approach 
the object that lay motionless on the floor. His 
wife heard this unusual noise and the low mutter- 
ings of her husband, and she ran in to him to see 
what was the matter, when both of them took 
courage to look at the corpse that lay dead — it 
was a dead monke} T . R. Pinchas knew enough to 
discern a monkey from a human being, but he had 
a false conception of these animals. He thought 
them to be semi-human, whom the Christians try 
to civilize, and this idea inspired him with fear 
and sorrow. It led his mind back to times, as he 
read, when the Hebrews were persecuted, and as 
they were often falsely accused of deeds they have 
not committed so as to get cause to tyrannize 
them, and he moaned : " O God ! now they will 
come and accuse me and my brethren of a horri- 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 23 

ble deed we have not committed, and torture us 
innocently. Mayest thou, O God, have mercy 
upon us." But though he was religious and pious, 
he believed that besides prayer activity is needed, 
and he now began to ponder what to do ; after 
various deliberations, the wife proposed to burn 
this body and leave no trace of it. This seemed 
sound advice, and soon the oven was filled with a 
roaring fire. The two lifted the carcass to carry 
it to the crematory, when a ringing of a falling 
coin startled them, and dropping the ape they 
began to search. Imagine the joy when they 
found a double ducat (about $4.80), and now they 
lifted the dead ape with renewed energy, but this 
time one coin began to fall after another. Once 
more the carcass was laid down ; but this time it 
was decided to search whence the coins came, and 
it was discovered that they came from the jaws. 
A knife was brought and the body opened, and lo, 
and behold ! its stomach was filled with gold 
ducats. R. Pinchas raised his eyes heavenward, 
and in the words of David said : " 1 have been 
young and also grew old, but I have not seen the 
just forsaken, nor his children begging for bread" 
(Psalm xxxvii. 25), and after a prayer of thanks- 
giving he woke up all the children and showed 
them the wonders of God and His timely help, 
whereafter the ape was cremated into ashes, leav- 
ing no sign or trace of it. 

Next day R. Pinchas got himself a fine holiday 
suit, and his wife and the children were also 
clothed elegantly. Matzos and wine were bought, 



24 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

and other eatables procured ; in short the pantry 
was filled up and the Passover evening was 
ushered in at the humble abode of R. Pinchas 
with abundance and sufficiency. The table was 
elegantly decorated and the family sat around the 
table with glad hearts and merry countenances. 

The sedar (family service held in every Jewish 
house on Passover nights) was just to begin when 
a carriage was heard rolling in the street and 
stopped before the humble little dwelling of R. 
Pinchas. Terror and fright seized upon poor 
Pinchas, and the family looked at one another in 
silent fear. What does that mean? Who may be 
in that carriage? Hark! — some one raps. Pinchas 
slowly crept to the door and in quivering voice 
asked who was there. He heaved a sigh of relief 
when he recognized the voice of the count asking 
to be admitted. The door was quickly opened, 
and all welcomed the count with reverence and 
cordiality. 

The generous count had no rest after Pinchas 
had left him. His conscience told him that he did 
wrong in not expending the usual help to the poor 
Jew, and he came to see how poor Pinchas was 
faring and his family, in order to appease his want. 
No sooner had he entered than Pinchas called all 
present to do homage to the " Angel of God," as 
he expressed it, and the noble count was ushered 
into the family service room. 

" Pinchas," said he, " I came here to celebrate 
the Passover with you and ask simultaneously 
what you are in need of, but from what I can see 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 25 

you have a great abundance of all and ever) T thing, 
and you and your family are attired in new and 
elegant clothes. Can it be possible that you be- 
came suddenly rich?" 

"Yes, my lord!" replied the Hebrew with a 
pleasing countenance. " God the Almighty had 
helped me ! Yesterday I was poor and in 
penury, to-day I am rich. Ay, God's help came 
suddenly, and I will tell you how. I know you 
feel interested in me. I know that God hath ap- 
pointed you to be my guardian angel, hence I tell 
you all," and he related to him the last night's 
affair with all its details. It turned out to the 
amazement of both that the ape belonged to the 
count. He had a bag of gold in his room of 
which he tried some whether they were genuine, 
and the monkey, no doubt, thought that he was 
eating them and no sooner had the count left the 
room than the ape, imitating his master, ate the 
golden ducats, filling up his stomach, which killed 
him dead. The count, on returning, finding the 
animal dead, ordered its removal from the pre- 
mises, and the servant with an associate, out of 
mere fun, took it to the house of Pinchas. They 
tore open the window and slung the dead animal 
into the room, accompanied by a chorus of shrieks 
and laughter. This it was that terrified poor 
Pinchas, and their voices he took for evil spirits. 
Next day the count found his ducats missing, ac- 
cused the servant of stealing them and sent him 
to prison, where heat this time was; and the 
count was delighted to hear of the innocence of 



26 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

his servant, which was proven by the monkey 
being" filled with gold. After Pinchas heard this 
explanation, he arose from his seat and silently 
stepped to a chest, unlocking it, and took from it 
a small bag which he handed to the count. 

11 My lord," said he, " here is your money, all as 
it came into my possession, except that which I 
have spent, thinking it my own, for the glorifica- 
tion of our Lord and to appease our want." The 
count shook his head and refused to accept it, 
but Pinchas was uneasy and still held it before the 
count, declaring that the ape was his, the money 
was his, and consequently should accept it ; but 
the count said, " Nay, Pinchas, God had helped 
you, and far be it from me to take away from you 
that which it seems that Providence destined to 
be yours. Keep it, both for your trust in God and 
for your honesty. And now, Pinchas, do me the 
favor and wait awhile with your service till we 
can bring here the countess, my wife ; " and the 
carriage sped away, soon returning with that dis- 
tinguished lady ; and Pinchas had to say the sedar 
word by word, to which this prominent Christian 
couple listened ardently and even joined in some 
hilarity. After the jubilant ceremony was over, 
the count and the countess departed pleased and 
delighted. 

R. Pinchas after this rose in prominence and 
riches. His house was the gathering of wise men, 
his charity and benevolence knew no creed, and 
he built almost an entire street of houses, which 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 2J 

he gave away to homeless poor people. This 
street exists to this day in the city of Prague, and 
is known by the name of Pinchas-Gasse. 

— Midr. Tanch. 97 col. 3 and Kav Hajashar 10. 



ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL. 

In times long gone by, there lived a wise man 
whose name was Rabbi Elchanan. He had a 
pious wife and an only daughter to share the im- 
mense riches he was possessor of. How happy 
they were when their beloved Hannah was led to 
the matrimonial altar can be well imagined, but, 
ah! this happiness was of a stillborn character, for 
the self same night the Malach Jiamoves (the angel 
ot death) visited the abode of Elchanan, to take 
the life of his son-in-law, and the bride of yesterday 
was a widow to-day ! It was sad, terrible sad ! 
but time is a wonderful curative, and in this in- 
stance it was no exception. It was not the exclu- 
sive desire of Hannah to be led to the altar again, 
but the parents so desired it, and she, ever consult- 
ing the parents' wishes, again consented to marry, 
and again she was made a wife. But, alas ! the 
second husband shared the same fate as the first. 
He, too, was taken by that terrible messenger on 
his wedding night, and poor Hannah, she was no 
wife yet and twice a widow. Time again passed, 
and the parents once more meditated to procure 
their beloved daughter a protector after they 
shall have gone, and with all the protests on 
Hannah's part they once more prevailed; and 
Hannah once more became the affianced of a man. 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 29 

The wedding day has arrived and the happy cere- 
mony consummated, but, horror ! O horror ! 
what a doom hung around her! The Malach ha- 
moves again visited them and took her husband's 
life, and for the third time Hannah became a 
widow on her wedding night ! She felt as if she 
had been guilty of murder, and prayed to God 
most devoutly for mercy, expressing her willing- 
ness to remain single all the days of her lifetime. 
Rabbi Elchanan had a brother, somewhere in 
the wide world, where he knew not. They both 
had left their homes when yet very young and in 
sore want, to find in strange lands a better existence. 
Elchanan, as we already know, was fortunate and 
became exceedingly rich, but his brother remained 
still very poor, scarcely able to' give enough 
bread for his large family. 

One day, after the little children retired hungry,, 
crying themselves to sleep, the oldest son walked 
out into the dark night to air his thoughts and 
offer up a prayer to God unheard by human ears, 
and he meditated upon his unfortunate position. 
It became to him too bitter and oppressive, and 
he wept silently, fleeing to God for help, when he 
was interrupted by the mysterious and sudden ap- 
pearance of an old man, who gently placed his hand 
on his head, speaking these comforting words : 
" O child, weep not, dry thy tears. Knowest 
thou not that thou hast a rich uncle, who would be 
but too glad and happy to see thee, and give thee 
all the aid necessary ? Get thee, therefore, on thy 
way and seek out thy rich uncle." 



30 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

He described to him the way to go, and the 
place to find, and he disappeared as suddenly as 
he came. The youth at first was astounded, but 
he soon recovered from his surprise, and went in 
to his parents, telling them what he had seen and 
heard, and expressed his desire to depart next 
day to seek his rich uncle. The parents begged 
him to desist from his fallacious anticipation, de 
claring it but an illusion, but all dissuasions fell 
heedless on his ears, and early next morning al- 
ready, under sobs, sighs, and tears, he departed, 
taking along on his journey nothing but the fer- 
vent blessing of his beloved father and fond 
mother. Guided and guarded by this blessing, he 
journeyed safely till he reached the city and resi- 
dence of his uncle. The joy of Elchanan was 
boundless when the youth introduced himself as 
his brother's son. Tears of joy flowed from all 
eyes, and on learning the destitute condition of 
his brother, he forthwith commissioned a faithful 
servant to take to his brother a sufficiency of every- 
thing, and ascertain what more is wanted ; but 
Joseph was kept there and permitted to leave them 
no more. His modesty and excellent character 
soon won him the admiration of all, and he was a 
beloved member of Elchanan's family. 

Time passed on and past events were but faint 
recollections, when one day Joseph entered 
the presence of his uncle, expressing desire to 
speak with him on a subject of great importance. 
The uncle looked at his nephew with admiration, 
and was willing to listen to all he wanted to say. 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 3 1 

" Dear uncle," began he, " you have received 
me kindly, nobly, and the kindness you heap upon 
me daily emboldens me to ask a great favor of 
you, trusting that you will not refuse to grant 
it" 

"Refuse you a favor?" exclaimed the uncle, 
"no favor, however, great would I refuse you, my 
son. Speak, what shall it be ? " 

" Nay, dear uncle," reiterated Joseph, "the 
favor is too great, and I fear to ask it, except you 
would swear that you would grant it." 

" 1 know," said R. Elchanan, " that you would 
not ask for anything impossible, nor for anything 
that is wrong and I swear that I will grant it if I 
only can ;" but he sprang horror-struck to his feet, 
when Joseph asked for the hand of Hannah, his 
daughter. 

"O my dear son," moaned the uncle, "do not 
ask that. Thou knowest well that three men have 
lost their lives as her husbands, and, oh, how 
dearly I and we love you ; may you not share the 
the same fate ? Ask for riches, wealth, and for all 
treasures I possess — ask for all that I have, but, 
pray, desist from that desire." " Dearest uncle, I 
cannot!" emphatically declared Joseph. "I 
knew your emotions and therefore I caused you 
to swear. There is no riches and no wealth that 
could make me happy without Hannah, and what- 
ever transpired in the great past will not make me 
shrink, trusting in God that all will end well. The 
uncle, seeing that all his efforts and dissuasions 
could not move Joseph from his anticipations, he 



32 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

called for Hannah, apprising her of this, and she 
began to weep and plead with Joseph ; but this made 
matters only worse, for this convinced Joseph that 
Hannah loved him in return, and he was inflexible. 

Bound by his oath, Elchanan finally yielded, and 
the day was set when Joseph and Hannah were to 
be wedded. The poor bride spent most of her 
time in seclusion, praying to God most fervently 
that, if it was His sacred will that her intended shall 
die, He should take her instead, that she shall no 
more bring such precious sacrifice. As to Joseph, 
he was the object of pity, for all learned to love 
him, and all prayed for him. He was the true 
friend to the poor, and the pleasant companion to 
the ch. 

The day of the wedding has at last arrived, and 
the guests assembled to witness the ceremony and 
to see their friends united. Hannah was to be led 
to the altar, and Joseph stood already at the side 
of the chuppah (a canopy used, in the orthodox 
ritual, as a matrimonial altar) to step under it at 
the appearance of the bride, when a poor man ap- 
proached him asking for aid. Joseph, even at this mo- 
ment, evaded not the mendicant, but was generous 
and charitable to him ; but no sooner had he given 
him his bountiful aim than he recognized him, on 
the words of blessing he uttered, as the same old 
man that appeared to him in his day of trouble, 
advising him to seek his rich uncle. He knew that 
it must have been Elijah,* the prophet. After the 

* Tradition has it that Elijah still wanders on earth and can make 
himself visible or invisible, or appear in any shape or form at many 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 33 

ceremony, the numerous guests were seated at 
tables decked with dainties and refreshments of 
the highest order, of which rich and poor partook 
alike. The most remarkable incident was the ap- 
pearance of a beggar clad in the poorest garb, 
whom Joseph nevertheless treated with cordiality. 
The feast was already over, and the bride had 
retired, and Joseph, too, intended to retire, when 
this beggar followed him and whispered faintly 
unto him : " Get thee to thy chamber, for I am the 
malach Jiamoves sent to take thy life. Now prepare 
to die!" Joseph reached his chamber and there 
turned to this black messenger: " Oh, grant me 
one week time to prepare! I pray thee!" "I 
am very sory," said the destroyer, " but I must 
obey orders and can extend no more time than 
necessary to die." " Let me then, I pray thee, 
take leave of my wife ? " " As thou wert kind to 
me," said the malach hamoves, " I will grant thee this 
favor," and Joseph repaired to Hannah's apart- 
ment. He found her immersed in prayer, and 
when she beheld him, she leaped up for joy and 
embraced him in her arms, but Joseph informed 
her that he came to bid her good-by forever : " I, 
too, am doomed," moaned he, "the horrible mes- 
senger granted me just time to take leave of thee, 
and he is waiting for me." " My husband! " she 
shrieked, "if thou goest, I go with thee ! Where 
thou shalt die, I shall die ! Alone thou wilt not 
go ! " And seeing the angel of death, she ap- 

places simultaneously ; and to whom he appears must be worthy, 
and he always brings tidings of salvation. 



TALMUD1C AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

proached him : " Scriptures say that ' if a man 
taketh a wife, he shall for a year not go to war,' 
etc. (Deut. xxiv. 15), and thou wouldsttake away a 
man just wedded, heedless of God's own law?" 
"Thou art a pious woman and speakest words of 
wisdom," replied the malach Jiamoves. " ' The law 
of God is perfect' (Psalm xix. 19). I will ascend 
to heaven in your behalves and plead for the 
charitable Joseph and the pious Hannah." And 
away he flew. As he did not return, it became 
evident to them that it must have pleased the Lord 
to change His decree from death to life, even as it 
is written in Solomon's Proverbials (x. 2) : " Charity 
redeems from death." And Joseph with Hannah 
lived a long and happy life. 



CHARITY KNOWS NO CREED. 

A poor man was once wandering through the 
streets in a most unhappy mood, in quest of some 
necessaries of life. It was Friday, with no prospect 
of getting something to eat for his family on the Sab- 
bath. Every baker and butcher he visited, begging 
to be trusted with some bread and meat, promising 
faithfully to pay for it next week, but none wanted 
to trust him with the smallest amount. Joseph, the 
traifener katzev* saw the poor man passing and 
repassing the streets, and noticing his embarrass- 
ment, asked him : " Rab Moshe, what's the matter? 
You look so down-hearted." " Well, what's the use 
to tell you, you can't help me anyway." " Why 
not ? Am I not a man like anybody else," said, 
Joseph, " even if I am not as devout an Israelite 
as far as outward manifestations concern? Or 
can no man help you ? " "I want some bread and 
meat for shabbos"\ said R. Moshe, but, having no 
money for it, nobody wants to trust me ; but you 
sell traife\ me t anyway, so from you I wouldn't 
take it, even were you to give it to me." " Well, 
Rab Moshe, come here," said the butcher in a 
kind-hearted manner, " I have here a beautiful 



* A butcher selling meat of cattle slain not in accordance with rab- 
binic law. 

+ Sabbath. \ Unclean. 



36 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. ' 

hide which you will have no trouble to sell, and at 
a good price, too, I believe ; take it, sell it, buy 
bread, meat, and flour, too, and the remainder you 
can keep for next week to schacher* with. Tell 
your wife to make a good Kugel.\ 

Rab Moshe, with the assistance of Joseph, lifted 
the hide on his shoulder, and skipped away on his 
toes'to the wochenmarkt,\ and had really no trou- 
ble in selling the hide, just as Joseph said. Imagine 
the joy of the darling children, when the father 
came home, and when they asked for bread, that 
they could get all they wanted to eat of it, a thing 
that seldom happened. He then produced a fine 
berches% and plenty of meat, flour and other vic- 
tuals, besides handing his wife a few thalers for 
safe keeping until he could go out to business. 

The family of Rab Moshe had a s/iabbos, wer mir 
gu-fs goennt.\ Next Monday he went out with the 
balance of the money he got for the hide, and the 
maxim, " Der Groschen is suess, der mit chazir be- 
schmiert ist,T seemed to have been verified, as Rab 
Moshe had luck with it. He began to earn money 
fast with it, and was soon in pleasant circum- 

* To trade. This word probably derives from the Hebrew 
shachar, to hire, to reward, etc. 

f Pudding. 

% A market held once a week, as is customary in European cities. 

§ A fine bread expressly baked for sabbath or holidays, so called 
from the word Vracha, blessing, as the bread is cut open by saying 
grace. 

|| Who wishes me well shall have it. 

T[ That groschen is sweet that is smeared with lard, meaning that 
comes from a non-Jew, or non-observant Jew. 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 37 

stances, paying Joseph for the hide with grateful 
acknowledgment, and never again did he have 
such a miserable Friday. 

Many years have elapsed since then. Rab 
Moshe was already sleeping the sleep that knows 
no waking, when Joseph too had been summoned 
away from the land of the living. 

He was taken before the Great Tribunal, to 
answer to the indictments pending against him. 
Gabriel stood there holding up in his left hand a 
scale, and with his right he placed into one side 
indictment after indictment. Joseph stood trem- 
bling and terror struck, awaiting the terrible sen- 
tence. He was asked what he had to say to the 
indictment of selling traife meat. His answer was 
far insufficient to justify him, much less acquit him, 
and the indictment was handed to Gabriel, whose 
charge it was to place it in the scale. Another in- 
dictment was taken up, and Joseph was again 
asked what he had to say to the charge of violat- 
ing the Sabbath, and this indictment was con- 
signed into the same scale as the first. Indictment 
after indictment was taken up in the same manner, 
and disposed of likewise. One side of the scale, 
which Gabriel held up high was now balanced 
down as down it could go, it contained the de- 
merits of Joseph ; and now the meritorious briefs 
were taken up, but they were far too light to out- 
balance the indictments, and the Great Judge was 
about to pronounce sentence, when from a dis- 
tance he beheld one hurrying as fast as he could 



38 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

towards the place of judgment, with a big heavy 
hide on his back. The allwise and alljust Judge 
waited a while to see if, perchance, it might be 
something in favor of the transgressor, and so it 
was. For it was Rab Moshe that came running 
with the hide Joseph had given him on that 
memorable Friday when his family needed bread 
and pious people refused to trust him; while Joseph, 
without having been asked, offered the help unso- 
licited, and after which a family became self-sus- 
taining. 

On the hide itself was nothing written, of course 
not, but its history was recorded in a great, great 
book, which was called for and read, and the hide 
was thrown into the scale containing the merits of 
Joseph. Imagine, dear reader, how it outbalanced 
the demerits. Sentence was suspended, and Rab 
Moshe was entrusted with the charge to lead 
Joseph, the traifener katzev, into gan eden (Para- 
dise), where they live together in eternal life as 
neighbors never to part 

— Oral tradition . 



THE TRUE RELIGION. 

A heathen once came to Shamai, and said, 
" Rabbi, pray tell me wherein consists thy religion ? 
" Study our oral and written law, and you will 
find it out," answered the Hebrew sage. " In 
oral law," said the Heathen, " I have no faith, but 
if you could teach me your written law, and that 
within the time that I could stand on one foot, I 
would embrace your religion." Shamai drove 
him off with a cane he had in his hand, and the 
Heathen went before Hillel, in like manner. 
Hillel complacently told him to stand on his foot, 
and while the Heathen thus stood, he significantly 
said, " Do not unto others what should displease 
thee, if others did it to thee. This is the whole 
substance, all the rest is commentary. Now go 
and study." 

— Sad. 31, a. 

Lessing, the German poet, an intimate friend of 
Moses Mendelssohn, gives in his " Nathan der 
Weise," to Saladin a beautiful illustration of the 
true religion in the following manner: 

There lived in ancient times a wise man, who 
was father of three sons. He had a family relic, a 
ring, that was supposed to possess the charm of 
making the holder beloved before God and man, 
if he believed in its virtues. 



40 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

He intended to leave this relic to the son he 
loved best, but years glided by and the wise 
father could make no proper disposition of it, as 
he loved all three sons alike. One day, as he was 
reflecting" upon the time when he should have to 
end his pilgrimage on the terrestrial sphere, he 
began to meditate earnestly. Should he give the 
ring to one, and slight the others ? For that he was 
too just, and too fond a parent. He concluded on 
a happy plan, which he executed at once. 

He visited a skilful mechanic, and had two 
rings made exactly like the genuine. When, one 
day, he felt that his last hour was approach- 
ing, he called his sons, each separately, to his bed- 
side, declaring to each his love and paternal affec- 
tion; and giving him a ring, with his last 
admonition and blessing, he expired. 

For a while the sons were too deeply imbued 
with the sad loss they had sustained, and all went 
on as before ; but soon one of the sons, thinking 
himself to be the favored inheritor of the family 
relic, endeavored to show mastery over the others. 
They, however, arose in protest, each claiming the 
same recipiency, and to settle the matter they 
went before a judge. Each gave evidence of hav- 
ing received the ring from the father, and the judge 
was so perplexed that he was at a loss how to 
decide the case. 

" I understood you to say," said he after a brief 
ponder, " that the genuine ring possesses the 
charm of making the holder beloved and appreci- 
able before God and man ; now, let me see the ring 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 41 

manifest its virtue. Which of you shall be most 
beloved?" All three were silent. " Now," con- 
tinued the judge, " may you not appear deceived 
deceivers? May not your father have three rings 
made like the one genuine ? And might he not 
have done so to show you each equal love? 
What matters it, then, which is the genuine as long 
as you have received the ring from your father, if 
you revere the father ? Retire, therefore, and live 
in peace, esteeming each your rings as a token of 
your father's love, and wait till their charm shall 
work." 

This ring is religion ; each and every one be- 
lieves that he has the true religion ; and each and 
every one believes to have received it from his 
(heavenly) Father. If so, then hold it sacred as 
such, and the one that can make you beloved be- 
fore God and man is the true religion. Why, 
every religion can do that if you live up to it ; so 
then is every religion a gift from God who, to 
show us His love to all equally, reveals not to us 
His preference, for " Have we not all one Father? 
hath not one God created us ? " said Malachi the 
Prophet. 

Ephraim ben Sancho, a learned Hebrew, was 
once arraigned before Don Pedro, of Aragon, to 
explain which is the best religion, and he answered : 
" Mine is the best to me, for the Holy One, blessed 
be He, who redeemed my ancestors from Egyptian 
bondage, gave it them ; but to thee, O king, the 
Christian must needs be the best, as God endowed 



42 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

th)^ people with power and civilization." This 
was, however, unsatisfactory to the monarch, and 
he demanded proof more convincing-, under threats 
of severe punishment should he be unable to pro- 
duce it. The Hebrew sage begged a day's time 
for meditation, which was readily granted. 

The following morning Ephraim sought the 
presence of the king, filled with anxiety and in 
apparent forgetfulness of the important explana- 
tion he was to give, he clamored for justice in a 
certain matter. " What matter is that ? " asked 
Don Pedro. " Some time ago," related the He- 
brew, " my neighbor departed for a journey, leav- 
ing to each of his two sons a costly jewel ; but no 
sooner was the parent gone, than the sons began 
to dispute regarding the intrinsic value of their 
respective jewels. Yesterday, they sought my 
opinion, and 1 told them the donor was the best 
judge, and that they should cease quarrelling. I 
advised them to wait peacefully till their father 
should return or they go to him, and, instead of 
accepting my advice, they fell upon me and beat 
me. Have I deserved such treatment for my 
counsel?" 

" No," said the king, " thy advice seems correct, 
and they shall be punished for this offence." 

" Sire ! " resumed the complainant in accents of 
humbleness, " pardon me for referring to the 
words that have just now escaped thy lips: Esau 
and Jacob were brothers, and each of them re- 
ceived a costly jewel — religion — from their Father 
who is in heaven ; and to ask which is the better 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 43 

o* the two is equal to your inquiry of yesterday, 
w<ien you threatened me with torture in case I 
were unable to advance convincing argument. 
My advice to the two brothers, my lord, you have 
just now pronounced correct. 1, therefore, will 
repeat the same advice to you. Wait till we 
should appear before Him who gave us our re- 
ligion. He alone knows the true value of our 
faith." The Hebrew was excused. 

— M. Nissim. 



WHILE THERE IS LIFE THERE IS 
HOPE. 

There lived once a rich miser who mercilessly 
denied every assistance to his fellow-creatures how- 
ever destitute and needy they were, and he him- 
self enjoyed not the life his wealth could afford 
him. One day, as he was looking over his hoarded 
up pelf, a deep thought came over him — after all, 
what good have I from this gold ? I, too, will 
have to die and leave this for others to enjoy. At 
this moment an old man appeared before him, and 
admonishingly told him that this wealth was a 
blessing from God and he should aid the sufferer 
and help the poor. " Ah ! " exclaimed the miser, 
with a frown on his countenance, " I will take thy 
advice, and give my hard-earned money to such 
who need it ; however, very careful will I be to 
whom I shall give, surely not to any mendicant. 
I swear to give but to such sufferer who abandoned 
all hope for terrestial life." And his former deep 
thought returned no more, for his heart was 
mercilessly closed as ever before, blind, deaf, and 
heedless to all misery and suffering of others. 
One day, while walking in a street, his gaze met 
an object of the greatest pity his eyes ever beheld. 
A human being lay there, yet hardly breathing, so 
faint and weak that every moment his life might 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 45 

have become extinct. He stepped to the sufferer, 
drew forth a few gold coins, and extended it to the 
poor man. " O God ! " faintly moaned the un- 
fortunate man, " have my hopes at last become 
realized ? Shall at last my misery have ended ? 
And thou, O noble man, becomest my savior! 
pray, whereby have I deserved this from thy 
bounty?" " I swore," explained the miser, " that 
I will help only such who have abandoned all hope 
of earthly life, and 1 find thee in such condition 
that thou canst not live long, and I will fulfil my 
my oath." Like supported by an invisible hand 
the sick man erected himself, and with the little 
strength he could muster he began : " O thou fool ! 
thou it is who hast given up the hope to live, for 
thou livest not. Thou only breathest the life of 
thy perishable treasures ! " Surprised at this harsh 
admonition, the rich miser said, " Is this what thou 
givest me for my willingness to help thee ? " 
" Nay ! " replied the sick man, " I take not thy 
help, for my hope has not yet forsaken me, not- 
withstanding my abject misery and destitute con- 
dition. Only the already dead can cease to hope." 
Away walked the miser, thinking shall he ever be 
able to fulfil his oath. To the graveyard he went; 
he dug a hole near a grave, took the coins and 
deposited them there, muttering, " Here, then, O 
dead, it is to thee only that I can offer the fulfil- 
ment of my oath/ . . . 

Time passed by, the rich miser became poor, 
unforeseen misfortunes have so reduced him that he 
became a helpless wanderer in the wide world. 



46 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

Oh, how often did he reproach himself, " Would I 
have, but lived for my money ! None have I 
helped, and none helps me ! Many a person have 
1 harmed and wronged in obtaining his money, 
and for what? what have I now?" All such bit- 
ter recollections pressed upon his memory. After 
many years of homclessness he once more returned 
to his native city in greater destitution than ever. 
He thought of the money he buried in the grave- 
yard, and to save him from starvation he went to 
the grave and began to dig for it, when the watch- 
man arrested and brought him before the judge. 
" How darest thou to molest our graves and the 
dead ? " asked the judge harshly. " O judge, hear 
my plea ! " cried the once rich miser, " it is not the 
dead nor the graves that I wished to molest ; but 
I once was rich, and I never gave to the poor ; and 
would never have given, but owing to an old 
man's admonition, I sivore that I would help such 
who hope no more to live, and as I could find none 
to be so hopeless, I buried some money in the 
graveyard near a grave ; and now that I am in the 
deepest destitution, I wished to dig that money up 
for bread." He gave the judge his whole life's 
history, and to find whether he spoke the truth, 
the judge sent for that money, which was really 
found, thus establishing the truthfulness of his tale. 
The judge then addressed the penitent miser: " I 
find that thou hast told me the truth, and I will 
assuredly help thee. I will also convince thee, 
however, that thou hast grossly erred, by telling 
thee that I am that man whom thou hast once 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 47 

found in such pitiful condition ; with hope still 
sparkling in his breast, when thou hast thought that 
his life was beyond hope. I am here alive, well, 
and well-to-do. Be this a lesson to thee, that while 
there is life there is hope." 

— Simchath mfesh, 21. 



ELIEZER BEN HYRKANUS. 

Several miles from Jerusalem, there lived a 
wealthy farmer by the name of Hyrkanus. He 
was father of several children, all devoted to the 
toil of the fields and vineyards. One of them, 
however, seemed to become recreant to his duties 
as farmer, and expressed his dissatisfaction, giving 
vent to grief and melancholiness. One day the 
father, as usual, came out in the fields to see his 
sons, and noticed the despondency of Eliezen 
Thinking that the share of work allotted to him 
was the cause, he promoted the youth to a higher 
sphere of labor; but he continued in his despon- 
dency and grew day by day sadder. The father at 
last inquired of his son, " Eliezer, what aiieth 
thee? Tell me if thy avocation is unpleasant, or 
too hard, and I will change or obtain thee an em- 
ployment more agreeable." 

Instead of answering, however, Eliezer stood in 
tears before his father. The fond parent pressed 
for an answer, and was anxious to know the 
secrecy of his son, who finally found words : " O 
father, I desire to study!" " To study!" ex- 
claimed Hyrkanus. "To study! now when thou 
art twenty and eight years old ? Take my advice 
and marry ; and have then, with the help of God, 
thy children to study." 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 49 

The youth found no words to reply, but became 
sadder than ever. He hardly took any food, and 
walked around like a stray sheep. An idea flashed 
to his mind * To go to Jerusalem, and to Jerusa- 
lem he hied, taking leave from neither father nor 
brothers. In Jerusalem, he soon found the acad- 
emy of Ben Zaccay which he entered, but was so 
abashed that he stood before the great teacher 
like numb and speechless, with tears coursing 
down his cheeks. " Why weepest thou, my son ?" 
addressed him the Rabbi. "I weep," replied 
Eliezer, because I thirst for knowledge." " Hast 
thou learned something heretofore?" inquired the 
sage. " Nothing ! Oh, nothing have I learned ! " 
said Eliezer, moanfully. 

The great teacher, noticing Eliezer's yearning 
desire for learning, took pain to instruct him, and 
he soon showed his preceptor that his perceptive 
organs were extraordinary ; and the student by 
degrees rose in talent and learning, so that in a 
short few years, he numbered among the ablest 
scholars Ben Zaccay had in his academy. 

Meanwhile his brothers, not knowing his where- 
abouts, denounced him bitterly and decried his 
behavior as shameful, accusing him of laziness 
and indolence, so much that his father believed it, 
and influenced by his sons, he determined to dis- 
inherit Eliezer. With this intention, Hyrkanus 
repaired to Jerusalem, there to arrange his will, 
and sought his friends, who introduced the wealthy 

* Tradition wants it that Elijah appeared to him, and gave him ad- 
vice. 



50 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

farmer to the chief of the academy, Ben Zaccay. 
Hyrkanus, descending from a noble ancestry,* was 
well received, and there being- a feast in the house 
of Zaccay, he was invited to participate among 
the nobles and the scholars of Jerusalem. Ben 
Zaccay, desirous to show the talent of Eliezer, be- 
sought him, during the progress of the feast, to 
rise and expound something of the law. But 
Eliezer in protest responded, " O Rabbi ! the cis- 
tern can only yield the same water that had been 
consigned into it, what could I advance that is un- 
known to thee?" 

" My son," exhorted the Rabbi, " a fountain 
streams forth water continually, yet gets not ex- 
hausted," but Eliezer only blushed and kept silent. 
The tutor, to relieve him of his embarrassment, 
arose and left the room, and Eliezer began to ex- 
pound matters of importance with the most pro- 
found scholarship, to which all listened ardently ; 
his father, who knew him not, as he underwent 
such change in appearance and deportment, in- 
cluded. As he concluded his exposition, Rabbi 
Ben Zaccay rushed into the room, and sprang to 
Eliezer, embracing him, and pressing a kiss on his 
forehead, exclaimed : " Blessed art thou, a Hyr- 
kanus' son ! Happy can Israel be to have such 
masters amongst them ! " The father sprang to his 
feet and in amazement asked, " Of whom didst 
thou say this, O master?" and Zaccay answered, 
" Of thy son, who stands at thy side." At this the 
father recognized his son, and clasped him to his 

* From Jochanan Hyrkanus, the high-priest. 



TALMUD1C AND OTHER LEGENDS. 5 I 

breast with words of affection and pateral emo- 
tion. It is useless to say that he did not disin- 
herit his son, of whom he was proud, and who 
became a revered master and teacher in Israel. 

— Pirke D" rabbi Eliezer, 4. 



THE TWO STRANGERS OF WORMS. 

At Worms, on the Rhine, a visitor of the old 
synagogue cannot fail to notice two lights per- 
petually burning on two candlesticks on which the 
words Q^rni&$ "UE^ (stinai orchini)* are engraved. 
The history of these lights dates back to time im- 
memorial, when the Hebrews lived in the Ghet- 
tos. It was once that a festive procession, headed 
by the bishop, drew through the streets of Worms, 
and, contrary to the usual custom, they marched 
this time through the Ghetto. They proceeded 
not far when, from the. top of some of the houses, 
a liberal share of refuse came pouring down, empty- 
ing itself on the unfurled banner of the standard 
of Catholicism and the bishop himself. This was 
enough to so infuriate the pilgrims that they fell 
upon the unfortunate Jews, maltreating them ; and 
soon plunder and pillage of their houses and store- 
rooms would have begun were it not for the just 
and generous magistrate who, in stern command, 
bid them to cease their unholy work, and commit 
no inhuman atrocities. The command was obeyed, 
but the cry for vengeance rang loud ; the demand 
for blood was so ferocious that the magistrate 
could not help demanding a scapegoat. He or- 
dered the Jews to deliver the perpetrator, and 

* Two visitors, generally strangers. 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 53 

succeeded in dispersing- the mob for twenty-four 
hours, in which time the Jews were to produce 
the offender. Alas ! alas ! who was the offender ? 
None would confess ; none would feel inclined to 
deliver himself up to the arm of justice, and a 
night of terror and pang was spent. The morn- 
ing dawned, and the woe-bestricken Jews assem- 
bled in the synagogue, devoutly praying to that 
Great Redeemer that had on this self-same day — 
being the seventh day of Passover — redeemed 
them from Egypt, and led them safely through 
the billowy waves of the Red Sea. And oh, how 
fervent were their prayers ! The suri rose brightly, 
sending forth its lustre, which, to the unfortunate 
Hebrews, seemed a tantalizing light. The tumul- 
tuous element renewed their cry for vengeance, 
and repaired towards the Ghetto. Nearer and 
nearer came the mob, and they already were in 
sight of the synagogue calling, " Give us the of- 
fender, or woe to you all." There was very little 
time for speech-making, and the rabbi, in touching 
remarks, urged the Israelites to be steadfast, and 
accept the approaching calamity as a trial of our 
faith. " The God," said he, " who delivered on 
this very day the Israelites from a mighty Egyp- 
tian host, is able to send, if we are worthy and 
guiltless, deliverance at the last moment." At this 
time, the mob pressed already into the sanctuary, 
with their cry, " Give us the offender ! " and, as 
the terrified Hebrews stood with no offender to 
deliver, and, just as the ringleader gave the com- 
mand of attack, and the Israelites commending 



54 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

themselves to God with loud Shma Yisroel's,* 
two hoary-headed, giant-like men pressed through 
the .throng, and shouted a commanding " Halt ! " 
They were so taken by surprise that all became 
silenced, and one of the two strangers began : 
" Touch not the innocent, for Ave are the guilty 
ones, and we deliver ourselves into your hands ! " 
A moment more, and the two strangers were 
hurled into the crowd, dragged out, a pyre was 
erected, and the two martyrs thrown in. This 
appeased the wrath of the mob, and quiet was 
restored. Who these men were, whence they came, 
and what were their names, none knew, nor could 
it ever be ascertained. Suffice it that they have 
saved the Israelites of Worms from calamity, where- 
fore the congregation, in their memory, had two 
candlesticks made, and placed near the ark, keep- 
ing the candles they hold perpetually burning, 
and, in representation of their names," Sh'nai Or- 
CHIM " was engraven on them. 

— Maase Nissim, 3. 

* Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One ! — Deut. 
yi. 4. This is a motto adopted by Israelites as a confession of faith, 
and they are the last words of a dying Jew. If he can speak no 
more, those attending speak it. Hence, when danger threatens, Is- 
raelites find it natural to exclaim Shma Yisroel ! 



HILLEL'S PATIENCE. 

Who has not heard of Hillel ? He lived about 
half a century before the Christian era, and was 
the principal of a rabbinical seminary, and the 
head of another high school at Jerusalem. His 
generous principles were equal to his liberality in 
views, and only excelled by his patience, which, 
among Israelites, is a maxim yet this day. Not 
unfrequently it is heard, if some one is calm and 
patient, " Der hat Hillel 's Geduld" (he has the pa- 
tience of Hillel). So, among the vast illustrations 
of his patience, one anecdote is related, that a 
spirited youth once, hearing praised the patience 
of Hillel, offered a bet that he could provoke and 
break his patience. He carefully sought the op- 
portunity, and seeing, one Friday, Hillel entering 
a bath-room, he thought it the best chance, and he 
began to call, without any prefix of title what- 
ever, " Hillel ! O Hillel ! is Hillel here ? " "lam 
here," replied Hillel, and stepped out of the water, 
wrapping himself in a mantle, and went to meet 
the young man. " What desirest thou, my son?" 
asked he sweetly. " I have a question to ask," 
said the young man, " if you will allow me." " Ask, 
my son, ask," said Hillel. " Why," asked the 
youth, " have Babylonians peaked heads? " " Ah," 
said Hillel, not to discourage him ; " thou hast 



56 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

asked a good question. It is because they have 
no efficient midwives." The young man departed 
without ceremony or salute, and Hillel returned to 
his bath ; but no sooner was he in the water, when 
the youth called again : " Hillel! O Hillel ! Is Hil- 
lel here ? " "I am here," answered Hillel again ; 
and again wrapping himself up, he stepped out to 
the young man, and pleasantly asked him : " What 
desirest thou, my son?" "I have a question to 
ask thee," replied the youth. " Ask, my son," said 
Hillel. " Why," asked the youth, " have the Ther- 
modians weak eyes ? " Hillel, as before, encouraged 
him that it was a great question he had asked, and 
told him that it was because they lived in sandy 
regions. The young man again departed, and 
Hillel stepped back into his bath. But scarcely 
was he in the water when the same voice rang 
out in the same manner: " Hillel ! O Hillel! is 
Hillel here ? " And Hillel, as if it was for the first 
time he was called, stepped out again, and went to 
meet the youth. " I am here, my son ; what de- 
sirest thou? " asked he, without showing the slight- 
est provocation. " I have a question to ask thee," 
said the youth. " Ask, my son, ask," responded 
Hillel, and the youth asked : " Why have all 
Africans wide feet ? " Hillel, in the same expres- 
sion as before," answered : " Because they live 
in swampy regions." " Oh, I had some more ques- 
tions to ask of thee," said the young man, " but I 
fear I might provoke thee." Hillel, drawing his 
mantle closer, and seating himself, said : " My 
son, ask all the questions thou desirest to ask ; fear 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 57 

not." " Art thou that Hillel," inquired the youth, 
''whom they call the Nassi (prince) in Israel?" 
" I am he," replied Hillel. " I wish," said the 
young man, " that there should not be many like 
thee in Israel." "Whynot?" asked Hillel. not even 
in a voice of astonishment. "Because." replied 
the youth, " I have lost four hundred zuzim (cer- 
tain silver coins) on account of thee. I bet that 
I could provoke thee to anger." '"Ah, my son," 
said Hillel, in sweet admonition ; " beware of thy 
spirit! It is far better that thou lose four hun- 
dred zuzim than Hillel should lose his patience." 

— Sabbath, 31a. 

To this can be compared the mild disposition of 
Sir Isaac Newton. It is related that he had a lit- 
tle dog named Diamond, and on one occasion Mr. 
Newton was called out of his study to an adjoin- 
ing apartment, when the little dog threw down a 
lighted lamp among his papers, and the almost 
finished labors of many years were consumed in 
a few moments. Sir Newton, on his returning, 
beheld, with great mortification, his irreparable 
loss ; but he only exclaimed, with his usual self- 
possession : " O Diamond ! Diamond! thou little 
knowest the mischief thou hast done." 



RASHL* 

This great commentator on Scripture and Tal- 
mud was born in Troyes, France, in 1040, and 
studied under the tuition of Rabbenu Gershon, 
acquiring unlimited knowledge of all literature 
then attainable, among which branches Jewish 
theology, as well as Greek and Arabian classics, 
were the objects of his indefatigable researches. 

His commentaries upon the Pentateuch stand 
unexcelled in brevity, diction, and clearness. 

Though fierce and fiery in defense of Judaism 
and truth, meekness and modestv marked his de- 
meanor. 

Travelling once in the Orient, it so happened 
that a monk travelled the same road, and a con- 
versation ensued exchanging their ideas. How- 
ever liberal Rashi's advancements were, the monk 
was inclined to be otherwise, for he soon began to 
fiercely attack his companion's religion, which 
brought forth the most earnest debates on the part 
of Rashi ; but the monk became intolerant and 
defiant, and the two divines, on reaching an inn, 
were not as friendly as when they started on the 
journey together. While in the inn the priest 

* He was called so from the initials of his real name fift/t^ ^l 
' , p^¥ ,, Rabbi Salomoh Yitzchaki. This was customary among He- 
brews. Their scholars were all called by such abbreviated names. 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 59 

took suddenly sick, and physicians were summoned 
to his assistance. They treated him awhile, but 
soon pronounced his malady mortal, and Rashi on 
hearing this repaired to his bedside. Examining 
him carefully, he prepared a medicine which he 
administered, and otherwise nursed his antago- 
nist with fraternal kindness, and the priest's health 
was restored. The monk, having learned this, 
wished to express his gratitude to his benefactor, 
but Rashi interrupted him w ith the words, " You 
owe me no thanks. I have only done my duty, for, 
though divided in faith, we must still be united by 
that love of mankind which Moses enjoined on us, 
'Love thy neighbor as thyself ' (Lev. xix. 18). 1 
simply beg of you, should you ever meet a suffer- 
ing Hebrew, help him as I have helped you. Fare- 
well!" and he departed. 

Several years thereafter Rashi visited Prague, 
and was received by the Jewish populace with 
great distinction and marked reverence. Duke 
Wladislow, who was then elector, hated the Jews 
most bitterly, and never failed to manifest his 
hatred at every possible opportunity. On hearing- 
of Rashi's reception, he begrudged even that de- 
light of the Jews, and to crush the pre-eminent 
standing of Rashi, had him arrested, branding him 
with no less a crime than spyism. All interces- 
sions were of no avail, and evidence to the contrary 
could, so hastily, not be produced, and Wladislow 
was about to pronounce sentence of death as a mat- 
ter of course, when the Bishop of Olmutz stepped 
before the tribunal, exclaiming: " In the name of 



60 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

God will I protect and defend this Jew ! He can be 
no spy ! One that is so faithful to the laws of God, 
and has such noble and generous heart as this man 
has, can be no spy ! " It was that monk whom Rashi 
once so kindly nursed when they had travelled 
together; he was afterwards promoted to the 
bishopric. He related this to the duke with all 
the incidents connected with it, and Wladislow, in 
pleasing surprise, became calm, his prejudicate 
opinion of Jews changed, and conferred himself 
upon Rashi many honors and distinctions. The 
noble Hebrew embraced this opportunity, and 
appealed to the now kind duke in behalf of his 
brethren, securing them thereafter shelter and 
protection in Prague. After a life most noble, 
and a caree. most virtuous, Rashi died in Troyes, 
his native place, in 1105. 

— Post-Biblical History of the Jews. 



MAN'S THREE FRIENDS. 

A certain man had three friends. One was the 
love of his admiration — in his avocation as in his 
pleasure, in his parlor and in his dining-room this 
friend was with him. At home and abroad this 
friend occupied his mind — his dreams were filled 
with this friend. The second friend he also loved, 
yet not with such ardency as his first ; the third, 
however, he loved least. If it so happened that 
they perchance have met, he recognized him very 
friendly, but it was once in a great while he would 
go to see him, and that out of mere courtesy, while 
to his own house he would seldom, if ever, invite 
him. One day, as it happened, the king summoned 
him to appear without delay ; and, conscience- 
stricken, he hastened to his first and dearest friend, 
begging him to go with him before the king, and 
speak for him if necessary ; but the friend indiffer- 
ently replied : " I cannot go with thee. I know 
not the king nor does he know me, and I have no 
influence with him whatsoever; besides, I cannot 
leave my affairs to go with thee." Entreaties, 
supplications, and tears, all were of no avail — the 
friend was immovable. Disheartened and grief- 
stricken, he ran to his second friend and solicited 
his kindness to go with him before the king, but 
he replied, somewhat regretfully : " I feel very 



62 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

much pained that I cannot go with thee, although 
I Vould like to help thee ; but I will go with thee 
as far as the gate, and thence thou hast to go alone." 
Dispirited and dejected, he went to his third friend, 
who listened to him attentively and extended his 
arms to embrace him, speaking to him most cordi- 
ally : " How glad I am that I can be serviceable 
to thee, my friend ! Thou canst not imagine how 
I love thee and how I waited for an opportunity 
to show thee my kindness ! I know the king well 
and I will go with thee into his presence ; I will 
plead for thee if necessary, and I feel certain that 
I will obtain his favor in thy behalf." These three 
friends are wealth, relatives, and religion ; the sum- 
mons is the death-call, and the king is the Holy 
One, blessed be He. 

Wealth it is that we so dearly love ; for that, 
peace and rest are sacrificed. Our houses are the 
strongest reminders of it ; we toil for it and dream 
of it. Relatives we love next ; but how often are 
they neglected, especially if they need our help ; 
but Religion is the friend we love the least. Once 
in a great while some will go to the house of re- 
ligious instruction and prayer, and that because it 
is fashion, or some other necessity requires it ; but 
to our houses we seldom invite it, that is, we seldom 
participate in religious practices. Suddenly, the 
King of kings sends His summons — the death call 
— and we appeal to our Mammon, to our wealth 
and accumulations, in vain, for they will cruelly 
and disdainfully forsake us. They have no influ^ 
ence with the King, nor would they be able to 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 63 

obtain you even the shortest respite. They remain 
here and we have to go. Our relatives they weep 
and cry and would like to help us, but they cannot. 
They can come with us to the gate — the grave — - 
and thence we have to go alone. But the third 
friend — Religion — will always receive us kindly, 
even at the last moment, if we apply to it. It will 
embrace us in its arms and take us before the 
Infinite King, there plead for us and secure us bliss 
everlasting. 

— Pirke R. Eliezer, 34. 



IS LABOR DISGRACEFUL? 

Aside of the manifold sublime precepts and 
doctrines divine that Scriptures contain, they also 
teach us that labor is not depreciating the estima- 
tion of man, however high his position or rank may 
be. They inform us that Abraham, Isaac, and 
Jacob — our patriarchs — were shepherds. Moses 
received his divine message when feeding the 
flock. David was promoted to the royalty from 
a shepherd's occupation. King Saul and the 
prophet Elisha were agriculturists. Israelites were 
instructed by Moses to become laborers, and they 
have listened to his instructions. At the time 
when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem, he 
carried away a thousand smiths and craftsmen (see 
2 Kings xxiv. 14-16). Our ancestors gloried 
in labor, and some of our greatest teachers were 
laborers. Hillel the great was a woodcutter ; 
Rabbi Joshua, a pinmaker ; Rabbi Nehemiah 
Hackador, a potter; Rabbi Judah, a tailor ; Rabbi 
Joshua Hassandler, a shoemaker; Rabbi Judah 
Hanechtan, a baker ; Rabbi Josai ben Chalafta, a 
tanner ; Rabbi Judah ben Illai Hachasid, a cooper ; 
etc., etc. The most noteworthy of these, however, 
was Hillel Hannassi, the prince, as he was called. 
From a woodchopper he became the principal of a 
famous seminary, and great authority in lore and 



MUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 65 

learning. He was a Babylonian, about forty years 
old, when he settled in Jerusalem, void of all knowl- 
edge and without a trade, he obtained a livelihood 
by cutting wood. Impelled by an unquenchable 
yearning for knowledge, he offered his services as 
woodcutter for poor rabbis for the mere permis- 
sion of listening to their lectures and teachings. 
Afterwards he gained admittance into the cele- 
brated academy of Shemaiah and Abtalion ; but 
every student had there to pay a small admission 
fee for the doorkeeper for the defrayal of expenses 
of fuel and light which on poor Hillel was very 
hard. One day he could not earn enough to do 
this and, anxious not to miss his lesson, he climbed 
upon the window-sill and there he listened to the 
lesson inside regardless of the approaching storm. 
Meanwhile, the snow began to fall, heavier and 
heavier did it come down, covering him more 
and more until he was discovered stiff and uncon- 
scious. Applications and restoratives brought 
him to consciousness again, and as the tutors as- 
certained his great desire for learning and longing 
for truth, they granted him free admission to their 
lectures. Fast advancing, Hillel became the re- 
vered master ; the title Nassi (prince) was con- 
ferred upon him, and he was worthy of it, not 
only on account of his great profundity, but his 
deportment and manners distinguished him as a 
true prince. 

— Compiled Facts, 



A LESSON TO BE TOLERANT. 

When Abraham was yet young and unacquainted 
with the attributes and the holy mission of God's 
love to all, that noble trait of hospitality was in- 
tuitive with him, and as one day he sat in his tent, 
he espied from far off a man approaching. Nigher 
and nigher came he, and soon Abraham could dis- 
cern that it was an old man, and, thinking that the 
poor traveller might have journeyed a long dis- 
tance, he ran to meet him and cordially invited 
him to his tent to tarry awhile and rest from his 
journey which the weary traveller gladly ac- 
cepted. Abraham had hastily prepared a meal 
and brought it to the wayfarer, which was assured- 
ly welcome, as in those days there were no people 
easily found to treat a stranger so hospitably. 

" Eat, I pray thee," said Abraham, " for thou 
must undoubtedly be hungry." " Ay, my son, I 
am that," replied the old man. " I am indeed very 
hungry and I accept thy kindness thankfully;" and 
he prepared with utter delight to partake of this 
food. He was about to convey the first morsel to 
his lips, when Abraham gently tapped him on the 
shoulder saying, " Bless the Lord, O man, the 
God from whom all blessing flows ere thou par- 
takest of food. " O young man," replied the 
istranger, " dost thou indeed believe that there is 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 6j 

a God to prepare all things? Why ! it is nature 
that produces all." An argument ensued in which 
the traveller would not be convinced and Abraham 
would not be disputed, and he bid the wayfarer 
to leave his tent. 

Presently a soft, sweet voice called, " Abraham, 
Abraham!" " Here am I," answered Abraham, 
feeling that it was the voice of God ; and he stood 
in awe and reverence ardently listening to what 
Ellohim wished to impart to him — and the voice 
continued, " Where is the man whom thou didst 
invite to thy tent? " 

" O God ! " replied Abraham, " he proved to be 
an unbeliever in Thee, and as no godless man shall 
tarry beneath my roof, I could not tolerate him 
and bid him to depart." 

" Ah, Abraham ! " said the Lord, " I have endured 
it with him for three score years and ten, I have 
endowed him with the same health, and with the 
same faculties as I have endowed thee, and have 
not driven him out of this wprld ; couldst thou not 
have endured with him till he should have re- 
freshed his hungry palate and rested his weary 
limbs?" And Abraham learned the attributes of 
God and was never intolerant thereafter. 

— Oral tradition. 



THE PROFIT IN ACCEPTING ADVICE. 

A certain king had among a multitude of slaves 
one favorite whom he considered wiser than the 
rest, and upon whom he therefore bestowed a spe- 
cial favor by giving him his liberty, on condition, 
however, that he must sail for some other land. 
Thus, one bright day, a pinnace was supplied with 
provisions and other necessaries, and the slave was 
set adrift. 

At first the sea was calm, but some days expired 
and a storm arose, tossing the little boat hither 
and thither, carrying it on the billowy waves fur- 
ther and further into the bosom of the tempest, 
with bnt God to guide it and protect its solitary 
passenger. It lasted long but finally ceased ; the 
sea again became calm, and the freedman now fer- 
vently prayed to God to lead his pinnace to some 
shore. His prayer was heard, for he soon espied 
land, and sailing toward it he saw a multitude 
standing on the shore to welcome his arrival. 
Soon he reached the shore and he was seized amid 
cheers and great enthusiasm ; he was carried into 
a palatial mansion, robed in royal garments and 
proclaimed governor of the island. He at first be- 
lieved himself to be dreaming, but soon became con- 
scious of the reality, and seeing the subjects stand- 
ing in obeisance before him and the servants await- 



TALMUUIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 69 

ing his orders, the wise slave first of all demanded 
some counsellors. Shortly some hoary-headed 
men of dignified appearance placed themselves at 
his command, and to his inquiries about the gover- 
norship replied : 

" The law of our island is to make every year 
another governor, and he must be a total stranger 
and a poor man. After the year he gets deposed 
and sent away, as poor as he came. Thus you 
were made our governor for one year." 

" Could you advise me," inquired the governor, 
" what to do to save me from such cruel end ? " 

" Ah ! we see that thou art wise ! " replied they. 
" Thou doest well in asking advice, and we can 
certainly save thee if thou wilt do as we advise 
thee. Now, lose no time whilst thou hast the 
power. The whole colony is at thy disposal and the 
colonists at thy service. Take, therefore, men and 
material, send them to a neighboring island, build 
there up a colony, and when the time expires here 
let men from the other dominion await thee and 
carry thee thither where they shall serve thee for- 
ever." 

The king is God, the wise slave the soul, the 
pinnace the human body, and life is the sea. The 
soul thus is placed into the pinnace, the body, sup- 
plied with provisions consisting of knowledge and 
understanding, and set afloat on life's tempestuous 
sea, which may be calm and smooth at first, but 
then the storms of life — conflict, struggle, and strife 
— will toss him hither and thither, and he finally 
accumulates enough to live in affluence. That is 



JO TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

his governorship, over which somebody else was 
governor before, and somebody else will be again 
after him. He dies and he is sent off naked as he 
came. If he would but take advice he would pro- 
vide for his future dominion by discreetly using 
his wealth in doing good ; and though he'll die 
away from the terrestrial colony, his subjects* 
from the celestial domains will be waiting for him, 
to convey him to that dominion where they shall 
ever and eternally serve him. 

Chulin, to a. 

* Tradition has it that every good deed or word creates a good 
angel, and every bad or evil word an evil angel for the author : and 
these angels receive the soul when it returns to its giver. The evil 
angels indict it and the good ones defend it. 



BITTERER THAN DEATH. 

At the time when Solomon, the Wise, had com- 
pleted his book of " Ecclesiastes," the angel of 
death appeared before God, complaining that the 
wisest man on earth committed such a blunder as 
to write : " I find more bitter than death the woman 
whose heart is snares and nets " (Eccl. vii. 26). 
" What," said he, " knoweth a man of the bitterness 
of death? Can he express the feelings of a dying 
father leaving behind an affectionate wife and fond 
children, often in destitute condition? Or the 
pangs of a darling child dying among sobs and 
tears in the arms of loving parents ? And many 
others who feel the deepest pangs that death can 
prepare? " 

" What knowest thou," answered God, " of the 
bitterness a vicious woman administers ? Suppose 
I grant thee but twenty years to live on earth, like 
other men, to search into this matter, that thou 
mayest then form thy opinion ? " 

The angel of death was willing, and leaving a 
substitute to fill his office, he soon was on earth in 
mortal shape, endowed with human pronenessand 
frailties. He was not very long on earth ere he 
fell in love with a fair damsel who reciprocated 
the pleasure, and he proposed, she accepted, the 
marriage was consummated, and the angel of 



*]2 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

death was the happiest being on earth. But, ah ! 
this felicity was not destined to be of long duration, 
for soon the wife began to be discontented with 
the ordinary mode of life, and desired fineries 
in superfluity, which her husband could not supply, 
and strife took the place of domestic bliss. It went 
from bad to worse, and the angel of death wished 
himself in heaven again, but he had to endure 
twenty years. 

Oh, how sadly glided these years by ! How 
many bitter, yes, exceedingly bitter doses had the 
angel of death to swallow ere he could leave his 
terrestrial abode ! At last it came that he had to 
return to the celestial quarters, and as his conjugal 
life was blessed with a son, he now took him aside 
to give him a last parental admonition and a fond 
farewell. 

He addressed him thus : 

" My son, know now who I am — I am the angel 
of death, sent down to live here twenty years. 
My time is just now expiring, and I have to ascend 
to heaven again and leave thee here. I wish to 
provide for thee ere 1 go, and cannot do better 
than to advise thee to become a physician. Thou 
needest no other knowledge for that than thou pos- 
sessest now ; simply observe, when thou enterest 
the sick-room, whether I am there and where I will 
be standing ; if I should not be there, or I should 
stand at the feet of the patient, anything thou wilt 
prescribe — say sugar water — will effect a cure. 
Shouldst thou, however, see me standing at the 
head of the patient, make no attempt to cure, for 



TALMUD1C AND OTHER LEGENDS. 73 

it will be of no avail, the patient must die ; " and 
the celestial parent vanished. Acting" on the in- 
struction of his father, the son very wisely re- 
moved to where he was not known, and began the 
practice of medicine with marked success. 

One day, it so happened that the magistrate of 
the city where the new doctor resided contracted 
a severe illness, and the most skilful physicians 
were summoned, but all were united in the opinion 
that there was no hope, and the new doctor was 
called in. As he entered the sick-chamber, alas ! 
he, too, saw that there was no help. His father 
stood at the head of the patient. Determined to 
win fame, the new doctor gave orders to turn 
around the bed, so that, where the head was, the 
feet came to be, and the experiment proved suc- 
cessful. The angel of death now stood at the feet, 
and, true to his promise to his son, he had to spare 
the magistrate's life. 

Soon thereafter, the king was seriously ill, and 
after all physicians had given him up, it was pro- 
posed to send for the new doctor, which they did, 
and he came. But, horror! This time the angel 
of death clung to the head of the king. 

The new physician paced the floor up and down 
in deep meditation, and ordered all present to 
vacate the chamber, which was done. The doctor 
stood now pondering, and the angel of death, in 
faint expression, spoke : 

" Give it up, my son ; thou canst not outdo me 
this time." 

" Well," replied the son, " I just wait for mama to 



74 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

come, and I will consult her. She must be here 
soon." 

Away flew the father, muttering as he ran: 
" Oh, if she is coming, I cannot stay ! Her pres- 
ence embittered my existence enough." And the 
king was cured. 

The angel of death was now brought before the 
grand tribunal to answer why he neglected now 
the second time to bring the required soul ; and he 
related his sad experience of the bitterness which is 
bitterer than death, acknowledging that Solomon 
was indeed wise. A vicious woman is more bitter 
than death ! 

— Oral tradition* 



PRIMEVAL MONOTHEISM. 

Tradition has it that Abraham was cast into 
a burning furnace, and was not consumed nor 
scorched, while his brother Haran perished in the 
flames. It was then that holy-writ chronicled 
his death (Gen. xi. 28), and that Abraham was ta- 
ken away from Ur by Terah, the father. 

The inference is taken from the following pas- 
sage : " Thou art the Lord, the God, who didst 
choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of 
Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of 
Abraham." — Nehem. ix. 7. It translates Ur flame 
or fire (as in Isaiah, xliv. 16; Ezek., v. 2), hence 
Abraham was brought forth, not out of Ur, but 
out of the fire prepared for his cremation in Chal- 
dees. The cause of it was his resistance to wor- 
ship the fire, and the legend runs thus : 

Terah,* the father of Abraham, was a manufac- 
turer of idols of ever}' description. He worshipped 
them, and furnished others with their respective 
gods. One day business took him away from 
home, and he left Abraham in charge of the busi- 
ness at home. 

Soon a purchaser came, and Abraham asked 
him, "How old are you?" "So and so many 

* It is supposed that idols took the name terafim in Hebrew from 

Terah, the manufacturer of idols. 



y6 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

years," was the reply. " How can a man of your 
age bow down before and worship an image that 
is scarcely a day old ? " queried Abraham ; and 
the purchaser departed, ashamed and enlightened. 
And so Abraham enlightened every customer that 
came, until there came an old woman with a dish 
of fine flour, requesting him to offer it up to the 
gods. In great displeasure, Abraham took a rod 
and broke all the images into shatters, sparing the 
largest one, into whose hands he affixed the rod. 
As the father came home, he saw the devastation, 
and asked Abraham how this happened, to which 
Abraham replied : " Father, why should I hide 
the fact ? There came an old woman with a dish 
of fine flour as an offering to the gods, and as I 
placed it before them, each wanted to be first at eat- 
ing, and they became so disorderly that the biggest 
took the rod, and shattered them all to pieces." 

" Why, boy ! dost thou dare to mock me ? " 
cried Terah, angrily. " How can they move ? 
They have no life ! " 

" Why, father," retorted Abraham, " do thy ears 
not hear what thy mouth speaketh ? They cannot 
move ; they have no life, yet are gods, objects of 
worship and adoration ! " 

For this offense Terah took his son before the 
mighty Nimrod that he might punish or admonish 
him, and Nimrod commanded the iconoclast to 
worship the fire. 

" Why not rather the water ? " said Abraham. 
" Is not water mightier than fire ? It extinguishes 






TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 'JJ 

" Be it then so," replied Nimrod, " worship the 
water." 

"Why not the clouds?" asked Abraham fur- 
ther; " do not the clouds carry the water?" 

" So let it be the clouds," replied Nimrod. 

"Why not the winds?" protested Abraham; 
" do not the winds disperse the clouds ? " 

" So let it be the winds," yielded Nimrod. 

" Let us then worship man," retorted Abraham. 
" Man is mightier than the winds ; he can build 
them out of his dwellings." 

" Boy, darest thou mock me ! " exclaimed Nim- 
rod, discomposed. " I worship the fire, and now 
I will see whether thy God will save thee from 
my god." And a big fire was made, into which 
Abraham was cast. Haran, his brother, witness- 
ing all this, thought, if Abraham will be saved, 
I will join him ; if not, I remain with Nimrod. 
Abraham came forth alive and unhurt before all 
eyes. Now Haran was asked what god he be- 
lieved in, and he said in Abraham's God, for which 
offence he, too, was cast into the burning flames, 
but he was consumed. Then Terah took his son 
Abraham, and Lot, the son of Haran, and moved 
from Ur to Canaan. 



WHO IS ADMITTED TO HEAVEN. 

Once upon a time there died a man of great re- 
ligious zeal, and as he appeared at heaven's gate, 
he boldly knocked, calling aloud : " Open, open 
the gates wherein the righteous enter, that I may 
come in!" " Who art thou?" called a voice in 
return. " I am a devout Catholic," replied the ap- 
plicant. " Catholic! Catholic!" sounded the voice 
of the gate-keeper in accents of amazement ; " we 
know of no Catholics here, and thou canst not come 
in." Like a thunderbolt struck these words upon 
the ear of the disappointed religionist. " Is this 
indeed possible?" murmured he to himself. " Is 
it possible that I would not be admitted to heaven, 
having lived all my lifetime in piety and religious- 
ness ? Never did I eat any meat on Fridays ; I 
went regularly to mass and confession, and should 
I now be; instead of rewarded, debarred from the 
celestial kingdom? " As he thus meditated, there 
came another individual to seek admittance to 
heaven, and seeing the Catholic standing before 
the gate muttering to himself, asked him what 
was the matter, and received the reply : " I was 
an ardent Catholic all my lifetime, and now I am 
refused admittance to heaven." " Oh, well," de- 
clared the new comer, " I knew all my lifetime 
that Catholics cannot go to heaven. I am a Pro- 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 79 

testant. Now wait and see how promptly I will 
be admitted," and he knocked at the gate. " Who's 
there?" sounded a shrill voice. " I, so and so, a 
zealous Protestant ! " was the confident reply. " A 
Protestant! What creature is that?" inquired 
the gate keeper. " We have no Protestants here, 
nor know I what it means. Thou canst not enter 
these portals." And the poor Protestant, shocked 
and disheartened, remained also standing outside 
at heaven's gate. It was not long before a sullen 
Moslem came on the same errand, and the two 
Christians, knowing his religion by his garb, asked 
him curiously : " Dost thou really expect to be 
admitted to heaven ? Why, see us ; we are Chris- 
tians, and yet could not enter, how shouldst thou 
enjoy that blessed privilege ? " " Ah," said the 
Mussulman, " Allah will take me to his bosom 
when he would not turn to a Christian," and he, 
too, knocked at the gate. " Who's there ? " came 
the voice, as before, to the others. " A meek dis- 
ciple of Mohammed's creed," answered the son of 
the Orient. " We know here of no such name, 
and thou canst not gain admission under such an 
appellative," was the gate-keeper's reply, and he, 
too, was left standing outside. Scarcely had the 
three exchanged a few words regarding their un- 
fortunate position, when another one approached, 
having a long gray beard, and his visage and nose 
at once stamped him as a Jew. When he had 
heard that the Christians and the Mohammedan 
were refused admittance, he thought that he, being 
of God's chos-en people, would be unhesitatingly 



80 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

ushered into the kingdom of heaven ; and he 
knocked at the gate as did the others before him. 
" Who's there?" resounded again the voice ; to 
which the Jew reliantly replied: "AYehudi." 
The gate keeper impatiently replied : " What 
sects are those troubling me these four times — 
Catholics, Protestants, Mohammedans, and Jews! 
We have no such sects here, and thou canst not 
gain admission," and the poor son of Abraham, 
too, was left to join the three disappointed appli- 
cants for heavenly admittance. 

Meanwhile the bells underneath them on the 
terrestrial hemisphere began to toll, calling the at- 
tention of the pilgrims to the approach of night, 
reminding them of the worship of God, ere Som- 
nus descends to the sons of earth ; and the Catho- 
lic threw himself on his knees, the Protestant 
bowed in reverence, the Mussulman prostrated 
himself, and the Jew turned toward the east, each 
praying in his mode and custom. 

The sacred devotion over, the Jew addressed 
his three companions thus: " It seems there is a 
mistake somewhere, and from all appearances we 
are doomed to stay this night here. What the 
coming day may bring forth, none can foretell. 
To pray, each has his ritual and peculiar custom, 
but I have a little volume with me which I call 
Scriptures (you call it Old Testament), but we all 
concur in its contents ; let us read it together, and 
pass the time with religious devotion." All joined 
in reading, and (as it happened) they read the 
second chapter and tenth verse of Malachi : 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 8 1 

" Have we not all One Father ? Hath not one 
God created us ? " when suddenly the gate above 
them opened, and the gate keeper called to them : 
" Why did ye not say so before, and ye would 
have been admitted ? As the children of one 
God and one common Father, all find abode in 
this vast eternal domain, but by no appellations 
are they known here." 

— Original* 



THE SERPENT. 

<f And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thine hand ? And 
he said, A rod. 

And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the 
ground, and it became a serpent ; and Moses fled from before it. 

And the Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it 
by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it 
became a rod in his hand." — Exod. iv. 2-4. 

As Adam was expelled from the garden of 
Eden he took with him a bough from that tree 
that bore the fruit which caused his doom, for an 
everlasting- remembrance. This he shaped after- 
wards into a rod (or staff) and engraved on it the 
ineffable name of " Ellohim." This staff became a 
family relic, passing through generations from 
Adam to Noah, from Noah to Abraham, Isaac, 
and Jacob (who speaks of this staff in Gen. xxxii. 12), 
who, as a matter of course, brought it to Egypt 
into the house of his son Joseph ; and when the 
Israelites were enslaved by the Egyptians after 
the death of Joseph, everything belonging to the 
house of Jacob and Joseph fell into the possession 
of Pharaoh. This staff remained there also. 

Jethro, so says tradition, was formerly a court 
official in Egypt, but he had committed a treason- 
able offence and to escape punishment he fled 
from Egypt to Midian, where he afterwards be- 
came a priest. He took nothing with him in his 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 83 

haste of flight but this relic of Adamic origin 
— the staff — and wonderfully enough he was fortu- 
nate in his flight. 

Some years afterwards when Moses fled from 
Egypt, he settled down (Scriptures relate) in 
Jethro's house, and for forty years nothing re- 
markable transpired with him. One day Moses 
noticed, for the first time, in Jethro's garden a 
staff with the name of God wonderfully engraved 
on* it, he grasped it with joy and went with it to 
his usual avocation. That day the Lord appeared 
to him in the burning bush, and among other signs 
the Lord told him to cast away the rod, which when 
Moses did so turned into a serpent. Moses be- 
came frightened and wanted to retreat, but the 
Lord told him not to fear, but to take hold of it ; 
and when Moses did so the serpent became a rod 
again. 

This rod — or staff — Is the name of God, and the 
Lord gave Moses the sign for practical illustra- 
tion : Cast away the name of God and it will in- 
variably turn into a serpent apt to destroy your 
paradise — your bliss and happiness. Should it, 
however, so happen that you did cast from you 
the rod — the name of God — or otherwise fell from 
your hand, and it turned into a serpent, fear not ! 
It is not too late to take hold of it. Face the 
serpent and grasp her in your hand ! and she will 
surely turn into a defensive rod again, i. e. God 
will be your defense again, 

— J as ha r — Exod. 



A TIME FOR RELIGION. 

" Let thy garments be white at all times." 

Eccl. ix. 8. 

A monarch once had assembled such of his sub- 
jects as he loved best, and presented them each with 
a suit of clothes, as a token of esteem. Some of 
them had prized this gift so highly that they laid 
them carefully into a chest and wore them only 
at special occasions, thus preserving them to 
be always neat and clean. Others, however, have 
taken less care of them ; while still others wore 
them daily, performing in them the most menial 
labor. One day the subjects were again called 
before the monarch and ordered to appear in these 
garments. Those priding themselves with the 
gift appeared attired neat and clean, just as on 
the day they were received. The others had their 
clothes stained and well worn out ; but the third 
party appeared torn and ragged. " How is this? " 
asked the monarch, " why have these men preserv- 
ed their garments in such good condition and clean, 
while you have so bestained them and the others 
have them all in rags and tatters ? " " We," said 
the first party, " have only worn them on special 
occasions, when we could manifest that it was 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 85 

honorable to wear them ; at other times they were 
stored away in a chest." 

" We," said the other party, " thought fit to 
remember the king oftener than at mere special 
occasions, and wore his gift more." 

" And we," said the third party, " wanted to 
have the king ever before us ; thinking that in 
all our avocations of life, in our labors as well 
as in our pleasures, his garments should be worn." 
" Yes," said the monarch, " but you cannot sit in 
my parlor ; you are unfit to be received in a king's 
palace ; " and they had to withdraw in shame and 
disdain, but the first party remained and spent a 
pleasurable time with the monarch. 

This monarch is the Holy One, blessed be He ; 
the subjects he loved best is Israel," and the gar- 
ments he gave them is His holy religion. Some 
deem it a high prize, and consider it an honor 
to possess this religion and are religious at proper 
times, i, e., in the synagogues, in the houses of 
worship, or at ceremonials ; all other times they 
have religion stored away in a chest — their inner- 
most recesses. They move in every society and 
circle as men with proper respect. There are, 
however, some who with their fanatic ways bestain 
true religion ; while still others disgrace religion. 
In every corner they strew their religion ; in the 
streets they talk religion ; and detest those that 
do not agree with their religious views, so that 

* Israel was chosen by God as His standard-bearers, becnuse they 
were first to recognize the true God, and the rabbins had that in 
view when they wrote their legends and allegories of this kind. 



86 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

their religion becomes at last like that garment 
bestained, bespotted, and fragmented. God will 
surely not regard their observances, for they are 
irreligious, and unfit them for the godly habita- 
tion ; the former, however, that have been an 
honor to mankind and useful to the world will 
undoubtedly be regarded by God worthy of in- 
habiting the royal palaces of the celestial abode. 
This it was that Solomon had in view when he 
said : " Let thy garments be white at all times." 

Sabbath, cix. 



EVIDENCE FROM NATURE. 

A rich merchant, once travelling- over land and 
sea with rich wares, arrived at Sura (in Egypt), 
where he fell sick, becoming- unconscious before 
he could make his will, and died. 

He had with him a servant, who now proclaimed 
himself his son, and with none to doubt it became 
the possessor of the deceased merchant's fortune* 
With this wealth he soon rose to eminence, that in- 
troduced him into the highest rank of society, and 
it became him easy to connect himself in marriage 
with families of renown, and become influential 
himself. 

The wife of the above merchant, with an infant 
child, a boy, waited long for intelligence from her 
husband, but it came in vain. 

She began to be uneasy and made inquiries, but 
the distance where he died was so great, that it 
took a long time ere she could obtain the slightest 
clue of his demise, and when she was informed of 
her husband's death, she knew not what to do, and 
bore the misfortune patiently without making any 
further steps. 

Years have gone by, and the child became a 
young man able to hold his position, and he de- 
termined to go in quest of his father's grave and 
inheritance. 



88 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

The distance was long, but Sura was reached, 
and he soon learned with the greatest certainty 
that his father died there, and that his servant as- 
sumed the place of a son, enjoying now his wealth. 
What could he, a stranger, do when the servant 
was now of high standing and a citizen ? He 
visited the Rabbi Saadja, and laid before him his 
grievance. The rabbi advised him to go to the 
king, and lay the matter before him, which he 
did. The king summoned the accused, but he 
firmly and emphatically denounced the claimant 
as an impostor, claiming himself to be the son and 
rightful heir. Rabbi Saadja, who stood high in 
court, was called and his counsel solicited. He 
meditated a while, then contrived an original plan. 
He advised that the grave be opened, and a small 
bone from the deceased be brought. That done, 
he ordered some blood to be drawn from both 
claimants into two separate vessels, and the bone 
was dipped first into the blood of the servant, but 
the bone was not affected in the least ; the bone 
was then dipped into the blood of the lately ar- 
rived son, and the bone became saturated, drawing 
into itself the blood. This was taken as clear evi- 
dence, and the deceiver had to yield his fortune to 
the rightful heir. 

— Simchath kannefesh, xii. 12. 



WISE MOURNING. 

Rabbi Meier* had two sons that were his pride 
and his jewels ; and as one Sabbath the sage tarried 
a while in the synagogue, these two children were 
suddenly seized by the cruel grip of death, and 
both lay lifeless in one hour. The shrieks and 
cries of the tender mother could not restore them 
to life ; she had therefore resolved not to destroy 
the Sabbathic peace and happiness of her affec- 
tionate husband ; nor frighten him with the sudden 
calamitous news, and she laid the two boys side by 
side on their couch, closing their dear eyes and 
covering them up. 

Rabbi Meier returned from the house of God, 
with happiness pictured on his countenance, 
and asked for his children to bless them,f but 
Beruriah,J the affectionate wife and fond mother, 
sweetly replied : " They went to the house of God 
and are doubtless tarrying on their way ; come, 
dear husband, eat your meal, the Lord is with 
them and they may soon return." The invitation 
was so cordial and sweet, that the rabbi could not 

* A disciple of Akiba. 

f It is customary with Jews to bless their children when returning 
from divine services. 

\ Daughter of Hanina ben Theradion. 



90 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

detect her sorrow, and performing his habdalah 
service (a ceremony which concludes the Sabbath), 
he partook with his loving and beloved wife of a 
dainty meal, after which Beruriah began : 
" Rabbi, pray let me ask thy advice. A friend gave 
me some time ago a very valuable jewel that I 
shall keep it safely for him, and being in my pos- 
session so long, I became attached to it, and would 
dislike to part with it ; but here comes my friend, 
and asks me for the jewels, what shall I do? " 

" Why, Beruriah, my beloved wife ! Canst thou 
ask me a question like this? Shouldst thou have 
a thing that is not thine ? " retorted R. Meier. 
" Thou shalt, of course, return it." " Come then, 
dear husband," said Beruriah, " and let me show 
thee that jewel," and she led him to the bedside 
where lay in deep slumber their two darlings, like 
two flowers nipped in the bud. As she uncovered 
them the father began to lament, but the mother 
reproached him, " What, O Rabbi ! Wouldst 
thou keep a thing that is not thine? God gave 
them to us, and now He demands them back," 
and both lifted their eyes heavenward, repeating 
the words solemnly and sincerely : " The Lord 
hath given and the Lord hath taken away, and the 
name of the Lord be praised !" 

— Midr. Jalkut, iii. 165. 



CONTENTMENT. 

There lived once a man good and pious, who 
in his absolute confidence in God accepted 
everything, the good and the evil, alike ; as he 
used to say, " Whatever God doeth is to our 
good."* 

He once went on a journey, and took with him 
a donkey to ride on, a torch for light on dark 
nights, and a cock to announce time — as in those 
days there were no watches, clocks, or any me- 
chanical time keepers. On his journey he arrived 
in a town late in the day, and wished to tarry there 
over night, but he was unable to procure lodging ; 
although he went from house to house, and offered 
to pay for his shelter. The weary traveller con- 
tinued his journey without a murmur, expressing 
his favorite maxim, " What God doeth is for the 
best." He rode on till he reached a forest, and 
too tired to go further, he halted beneath a heavily 
shaded tree, lighted his torch, fastened his don- 
key, and offering up a prayer to God commending 
his spirit into His care, he laid himself down to 
sleep. But scarcely had he closed his eyes, when 

* This is ascribed to Akiba by some; others again state that it was 
Nahum the Gam Zoo, who used to say to every misfortune that be- 
fell him, Gam Zoo l'toba" (ihis is also for the best), which maxim 
is still extant with pious and God fearing Jews. 



92 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

the roaring- of a lion awoke him, who, in the 
next moment, devoured his donkey. Happy over 
the thought that the lion did not attack him, he 
muttered, " Indeed, what God doeth is for our 
best." In another instant a marten sped by, grasp- 
ing the cock and ran away with it; and before the 
poor solitary traveller could reflect on it, a storm 
arose and suddenly extinguished his torch, leaving 
him in the dark, and alone in the endless forest. 

The coming morning he learned from other 
travellers that the village which refused him shel- 
ter was visited by robbers, who pillaged many 
houses and killed many people. 

" Whence came these robbers ? " asked the pious 
traveller astonished. " They came from this very 
direction," said they, " and we really wonder 
that thou hast escaped them." " Ah, I see 
now ! " exclaimed the pious traveller, raising his 
eyes heavenward. " What God doeth is for our 
best ! ' How if the donkey would have brayed, or 
the cock crowed ! or how if the light of the torch 
would have attracted the attention of these rob- 
bers ! They would have destroyed me. Indeed, 
1 what God doeth is for the best ! ' " 

— Berachoth. ix. 



SELF-DEPENDENCE. 

" If I am not for me, who is for me ? " 
Hillel in Pirke Aboth i. 14. 

Eliezer ben Dordeja was a man leading a reck- 
less life, and one day, as he was listening to a wo- 
man for whom he had high regards, he was seri- 
ously affected by her remark, " Eliezer, the son of 
Dordeja, will hardly ever become repentant." 
With a look of despair he repaired to the hills, and, 
seating himself between the rocks at the mountains 
he prayed aloud, " O rock and mountains, pray 
ye to God for me that He may have mercy on 
me! " but they echoed in response, " Ere we pray 
for thee we must pray for ourselves ; for holy-writ 
says that ' The mountains shall depart and the 
hills be removed.' " — (Isaiah liv. 10.) 

He then looked up to the heavens and then cast 
his eyes to the earth as he implored them, " O ye 
heavens and earth! pray ye for me to God for 
mercy ! " and they replied, " Ere we pray for thee 
we must pray for ourselves ; for holy-writ has it 
that ' The heavens shall vanish like smoke, and 
the earth wax old like a garment.' " — (Isaiah li. 6.) 

" Oh, then, pray ye for me, ye sun and moon ! " 
pleaded he ; but sun and moon replied, " Ere we 
pray for thee we must pray for ourselves; for is it 
not written in holy-writ, " The moon shall be con- 



94 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

founded and the sun be ashamed ? ' " — (Isaia* 
xxiv. 23.) 

" Oh, then, pray ye for me, ye stars and planets ! " 
cried he most piteously ; but they replied, " Ere 
we pray for thee we must pray for ourselves ; for 
is it not written in holy-writ, ' And all the hosts 
of heaven shall be dissolved ? ' " — (Isaiah xxxiv. 4.) 

" Ah, then ! " moaned he, " then all depends 
upon myself ! " and he drooped his sorrowing head 
between his knees amidst sighing and sobbing un- 
til his spirit departed. There came then a voice 
from heaven proclaiming: " Rabbi Eliezer ben 
Dordeja has repented and inherited the portion of 
the future world ! " 

From this we infer that all, from the smallest to 
the greatest, have enough to do for themselves ; 
and we must not ask others to do for us what we 
can do ourselves, even in praying. 

— Aboda Zorah /., lxxi. I. 



DUE REWARD. 

Emperor Adrian, in passing once a street in 
Tiberias, noticed an old man planting" a tree, and 
he stepped nearer and asked him, " Why plantest 
thou that tree, an old man as thou art? Couldst 
thou not have worked in thy early youth enough 
for thy old age? Thou canst surely eat no more 
fruit of this tree ? " "I have worked in my youth 
even as I work now," replied the old man, " and 
if it is God's will I may yet enjoy the fruit of this 
tree." 

" How old art thou?" asked the emperor. 
" I am a hundred years old," replied the old man. 
" A hundred years, and still expect to enjoy the 
fruit of his tree ! " exclaimed Adrian in astonish- 
ment. " If it is God's will," replied the old man 
complacently; "and if not, I will leave it for my 
son as my father had left some fruit trees for me 
to enjoy." The emperor Adrian was by no means 
well disposed towards Jews, but the spirit of this 
old man so pleased him that before he took leave 
he told him who he was, and, " shouldst thou live 
till this tree bear fruit, I wish you to come and 
see me." The tree grew up to bear fruit, and the 
old man yet lived hearty and hale. He remem- 
bered Adrian's request, and he filled a basket with 
figs of that tree and carried it to the royal palace. 



9D TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

Admitted into the emperor's presence, he was at 
once recognized and received very cordially. The 
basket was emptied of the fruit it contained and 
rilled up with gold. Thus the old man departed 
rewarded, jubilant and delighted 

The courtiers, after he was gone, could refrain 
no longer, and asked the emperor, " How comes 
it that a monarch like thee should so honor a Jew 
as thou has just honored this old man ? " " Should 
I not honor a man," replied the emperor, " whom 
the Lord has honored, of which his old age is 
proof ? " 

A neighbor of this old man had a very selfish 
wife, and hearing of this old man's success at 
court, imagined that the emperor was fond of figs, 
and urged her husband to load up a big basket 
with choice figs and take it to him, thinking of 
getting plenty of gold for it. Arrived at the im- 
perial palace, he related to the guard that he had 
learned of the emperor's great love for figs, and 
that he had brought a big basket full of it, hoping 
to obtain a good reward. The emperor was ap- 
prised of this, and guessing the right reason of 
this man's gift, ordered him to stand in the hall- 
way of the palace, and caused him to be pelted 
with his own figs. Sore and besmeared, he re- 
turned to his disappointed wife, and told her of 
his unfortunate adventure. But she could only 
console him with the words, " Be thou content that 
they were not citrons, or else thou wouldst have 
fared far worse." 

— Rabboth, 193 b. 



WOMAN'S CONSTANCY. 

There lived in Sidon a husband and wife who 
loved each other tenderly, but ten years' wedlock 
found them yet childless, which the husband took 
much to heart, and, God-fearing as he was, he 
visited the rabbi, Simon bar Jochai,* laying- before 
him the matter and asked for a divorce. f To 
his wife he tenderly said, " Return, beloved, to 
thy father's house and live in God and peace there, 
for we are childless. To give thee evidence of my 
love and esteem, I permit thee to take from my 
house whatsoever thou appreciatest best." The 
rabbi, hearing this, advised them, " You were 
wedded with a feast and why not part with a 
feast? Let the world know that there is no re- 
proach in either of you, and that it is only child- 
lessness that causes you to part ;" which advice 
was well taken, and they readily agreed to make a 
feast like that of a wedding. The affectionate 
wife preparing dainties in abundance, and at the 
feast she administered to her husband, extending 
to him wine, cup after cup, which he could not 

* Lived at the close of the second century. 

f Rashi on the commentary of Genesis xvi. 3 speaks of a 
custom that prevailed some time, that a childless wedlock, after 
ten years, was sufficient ground for divorce. According to tradi- 
tion it was considered a disfavor of God, and a divorce was granted.. 



98 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

refuse, thinking- this to be the last meal together; 
and he became so intoxicated that he knew not 
what was going on around him. Now the loving 
wife summoned some faithful servants who with 
tenderness carried the husband into her father's 
house, laying him upon a soft couch, where he 
slept while she kept watch over him. During the 
night he awoke, and, seeing he was not in his house, 
asked, " Where am I ? " " You are in my father's 
house, my dearest, and that according to your 
own words," was the sweet reply of the wife. 
" You have told me to go to my father's house, 
and take from your house that which I appre- 
ciate best. Nothing could 1 find in your house 
that I love and appreciate more than you, and I 
have brought you therefore to my father's house." 
He could utter no words at hearing such confes- 
sion from the lips of one he really loved, and 
he but. stretched out his arm and clasped her 
to his heart, and his thoughts wandered up to 
God in gratefulness that He, after all, decreed 
that he should have such a faithful, pious and affec- 
tionate wife. It is needless to say that the di- 
vorce was not asked nor given, and the rabbi's 
plan worked well. The Lord also looked down 
upon them in mercy, for in another year their 
union was blessed with a male child. 

— Jalkut, v. a. 



HANDSOME IS WHO HANDSOME DOES. 

Joshua ben Chananiah was greatly esteemed by 
the court of Rome on account of his unlimited 
wisdom and learning, but his personal appearance 
was very uncomely. One day he happened to be 
at the royal palace, and the princess, after hearing 
his wisdom, exclaimed, " Oh, what a homely recep- 
tacle for such wisdom! " Joshua, composed, and 
without evincing the least sign of having been 
offended, entered into conversation with the prin- 
cess, and directing his subject towards affairs so 
that he had the opportunity to ask where the em- 
peror kept his wines, the princess informed him 
that their wines were kept in earthen vessels. 
"Why!" exclaimed the Hebrew, " I am aston- 
ished that you keep such good wine as the em- 
peror drinks in an earthen vessel, why not in 
gold or silver vessels?" " Methinks thou art 
right," responded the princess ; and no sooner had 
Joshua left, than she ordered all the best wines to 
be emptied and filled into gold and silver caskets. 
In a short time thereafter the emperor perceived 
that his beverages began to get sour, and, on in- 
quiry, he learned what the daughter had done. 
He at once sent for her, and she explained that it 
was Joshua who advised it. Joshua was sent for, 
and he disclaimed that he advised it, " but," said 



IOO TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

he, " the princess wondered at my wisdom being 
encased in such homely vessel as my appearance 
is, and I asked why the wines of the emperor 
should be kept in earthen and not in gold and sil 
ver vessels ; if she would have understood what I 
was aiming at, the lesson would have been com- 
pleted then ; as it is, however, she can now see it 
practically. Wisdom is seldom connected with 
beauty, for the temptations the prepossessing 
appearance offers are meant to irritate wisdom, 
besides the vanity it imparts." 

— Taanith, 7 a. 



THE MEASURE YOU MEASURE WITH IS 
MEASURED UNTO YOU. 

In the " Ethics of Our Forefathers " (Pirke Aboth, 
i. 7) there is a maxim laid down by Joshua ben 
Perachiato judge everybody favorably. Acer- 
tain man was once hired to work for an agreed sal- 
ary, and worked for three years without having 
drawn the same. He desired to go home and de- 
manded his accumulations from his employer, but 
he very piteously said, " I really have just now no 
money." " Give me then some of your produce," 
demanded the employe. " I regret very much," 
said the master, " that I cannot comply with this, thy 
term." He asked him for cattle, for wine or vine- 
yard, but the master declared he was unable to give 
him anything. With a heavy sigh the poor labor- 
er took his tools without a murmur and departed. 
Scarcely had he gone when the employer took the 
money he owed him, and had three asses laden 
with eatables, with drinkables, and with wearing 
apparel, and rode after him. Arrived at the house 
of the laborer a meal was prepared, and they ate 
and drank together ; after which the employer drew 
forth the money and handed it to the employe, and 
ordered his servants to unload the asses also. The 
following dialogue then ensued : 



102 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

Employer. " What didst thou think when I told 
thee that I had no money ? " 

Employe. " I thought that thou hast unfortu- 
nately lost it." 

Employer. " What hast thou thought when I told 
thee that I had no cattle ? " 

Employe. " I thought that thou mightest have 
owed it to others previous to my debt." 

Employer. "What hast thou thought when I 
told thee I had no field ? " 

Employe. " I thought that it might have been 
mortgaged." 

Employer. " What hast thou thought when I 
told thee I had no fruit ? " 

Employe. " I thought that it might not have 
been tithed yet." 

Employer. " What hast thou thought when I 
told thee I had no vineyard nor wine ? " 

Employe. " I thought thou mightest have sanc- 
tified it to the service of God." 

Employer. "Ah, thou art a godly man! Faith- 
fully hast thou complied with the ethical doctrine 
'Judge everybody favorably.' Thou hast judged 
me favorably and may God judge thee favorably." 

—Sab., 127. 



THE WICKEDNESS OF SODOM. 

" And the Lord said, the cry of Sodom and 
Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is very 
grievous."— Genesis xviii. 20. 

Among the heinous outrages committed by the 
Sodomites a few are noteworthy to relate : It was 
customary that every one should give a coin to a 
mendicant, but when he was to purchase bread or 
any food the coin was not accepted in pay, and 
often the unfortunate victim had to starve. 

As to hospitality, there was an inn for strangers 
with a rather small bed in it, into which they laid 
the visitor, and if he was shorter than the bed, the 
wicked Sodomites stretched him till he was long 
enough for the bed ; and if he was taller, they cut 
his legs off to suit the size. 

It once so happened that Eliezer, the servant of 
Abraham, visited Sodom, and all were officious to 
conduct him to the infamous inn and were urgent 
that he should lie in the bed, but the faithful 
servant of the Hebrew patriarch suspected some- 
thing wrong, declared that he vowed never to 
sleep in a bed, and he slept on the floor, thus 
escaped the terrible torture. As one day he walked 
in the street one of the citizens attacked and struck 
him so that the blood dripped from the wound. 
Eliezer sought a judge and laid the matter before 



104 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

him. "What!" said the judge, "hast thou yet 
cause to complain when one of our citizens bleeds 
} r ou free of charge?" and fined him to the amount 
that bleeding would cost by a surgeon. At this 
sentence Eliezer fell upon the judge dealing him 
a heavy blow, so that the judge was bleeding. 
" How darest thou ! " cried the judge. " How dare 
I," retorted Eliezer. " I only bled thee free of 
charge. Now pay the fine thyself to the one 
who bled me." As Eliezer was not punished, he 
was doubtless considered worthy of the association 
of the Sodomites. 

— Sanhedtin, 109 b. 



MARTYRDOM OF HANINA. 

It was about sixty years after the destruction of 
the second temple at Jerusalem, under the reign 
of Adrian (or Hadrian), that the Jews suffered 
terrible and severe persecution ; and only because 
they would not renounce their faith and accept 
that of the Roman's persuasion. Every observance 
of the Mosaic or Rabbinic code was interdicted, 
and even the reading- of the Scriptures was forbid- 
den. Woe was unto him who was discovered 
reading them ! Often was it punished with death. 
This, however, made Israel cling together more 
closely; it made them more dutiful to their reli- 
gious observances, more faithful to the creed their 
ancestors confessed to, and more firm in their be- 
lief for which they sacrificed their comfort and 
often their lives. The persecution was especially 
severe on the rabbis and teachers. 

Hanina ben Theradion was discovered reading 
a scroll * containing the holy-writ, and he was 
seized and brought before the tribunal, where he 
was mercilessly sentenced to death on the stake. 
They have heaped around him sheaves of rice 
straw and set on fire, and, in order that he should 
not expire too quick, a saturated sponge was laid 
on his chest which was kept moist. The daughter, 
on beholding this, shrieked aloud, " O father, must 
I see thee suffer thus ! " " My daughter," replied 
Hanina in his agony, " were I to be burned alone 

* Scriptures in those days were all written on parchment scrolls. 



106 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

it would be very hard, but the scroll of my faith 
is burned along- with me; and He who will visit 
the ignominy of the law of God will also visit my 
ignominy." 

His disciples, hearing this, inquired, " O Rabbi r 
tell us what thou seest?" "Ah, my sons," re- 
sponded the nearly expiring martyr, " I see the 
parchment consumed by the fire, but the letters 
ascend unhurt."* Seeing him suffer terrible 
agony, they called to him, " Why, O Master, not 
open thy mouth, inhale the flames that thy suffer- 
ing may end and let thy pure soul ascend on high ? " 
"It is better," replied the sage, "that He who 
gave it shall take it again than I should hasten to 
take my life." f 

The executioner, hearing all this, addressed the 
martyr, " O master, if I should remove the sponge 
and increase the flames, thus shortening thy agony,, 
wilt thou supplicate that I may inherit the king- 
dom of heaven ? " "I will," said Hanina. " Then 
swear to me," was the torturer's demand ; and the 
martyr swore. The sponge was removed and the 
fire stirred, and the soul of Hanina ben Theradion 
took instantly its flight. At this instant the Ro- 
man too cast himself into the flames, and a voice 
was heard to call, " Hanina ben Theradion and his 
executioner inherited the kingdom of heaven." 

— Berachoth, 9. 

* Meaning that all books of Scriptures may be destroyed, yet its 
spirit never. 

f Here a lesson is conveyed, whatever trouble, sorrow or the 
severest tribulation visits us, we must never take our lives. Let Him 
who gave it take it. 






MARTYRDOM OF AKIBA. 

Akiba, like Hanina, would also not abandon the 
reading and studying of the law of God ; he, 
moreover, went around teaching his brethren and 
urging them to be steadfast and trust in God. 

Papus ben Jehudah was astonished at this and 
asked him, " O master, fearest thou not the tyrant's 
mandate?" But Akiba promptly rebuked him: 
" Papus, whom people call wise, art thou such 
a coward ? Let this parable teach thee : A fox 
passing along the shore of a river noticed the 
fishes excitedly swimming hither and thither, as 
they were in terror and fear, and he asked them 
why they were so terrified and excited. ' Why, in- 
deed,' said the poor inhabitants of the water, 
* seest thou not the nets that are spread out to 
entrap us?' 'Come then,' said the sly fox, 'unto 
the land and dwell here in safety.' ' Ah, indeed ! ' 
said the fishes, ' art thou the fox, the wise among 
beasts ? If danger threatens us here where we 
are accustomed to live, how much more will it 
threaten us where our death is sure?' Thus, O 
Papus, can we say. If we should fear the danger 
when we do observe the laws of God, how much 
more have we to fear if we abandon them ? " 

Shortly thereafter Rabbi Akiba was seized and 
cast into prison for reading God's law ; and not 



108 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

long thereafter Papus incurred the displeasure of 
the Roman court and was also cast into prison. 

Here the two met again ; but Papus ruefully 
expressed his bitter regret, " Akiba, Akiba ! thou 
sufferest as a martyr; but I, alas, have violated 
God's law to be in favor with the Romans, and 
yet my prospects are as bad as yours, besides I 
suffer as a criminal." 

Akiba then, like Hanina, was burned at the stake, 
and amidst his agonizing pain his disciples moaned 
and cried, " O rabbi, rabbi, how must thou 
suffer!" " Yes ! " said Akiba woefully, "but all 
my lifetime I have been teaching the sublime pre- 
cept, ' Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all 
thy heart, with all thy soul and with all thy might/ 
should I now not lay down my life willingly for 
this noble work ? Yes, my life I gladly sacrifice 
for God's holy law. Slima Israel adonoy ellohainoo, 
adonoy ecJwd ! (Hear, O Israel, the Eternal is our 
God, the Eternal is one ! *) at the last word his 
soul took flight, and a voice was heard to call : 
" Happy art thou, Akiba, who hast died while 
Echod left thy lips ! The future world shall be thy 
inheritance." 

— Aboda Zarah, 18. 

* This passage is embodied in every prayer of Israelites, private 
or public, and it said as the last words at one's dying bed. 



NEVER TOO LATE TO LEARN. 

Rabbi Akiba * at forty was void of all knowl- 
edge and only knew how to be a shepherd, in 
which capacity he was employed by a wealthy 
Jew at Jerusalem, named Kalba Shebua. There 
sprang up between him and his employer's daugh- 
ter a mutual love, but, owing to his total ignorance, 
the maiden's parents opposed the alliance. Not- 
withstanding this opposition, however, the lovers 
were united in wedlock, and when the father heard 
of it he disowned his daughter, and Akiba and his 
wife lived in great want and destitution. If Akiba 
had but learned and become a scholar the parents- 
in-law would have gladly recognized him as son- 
in-law, but this was now a matter out of question, 
as he was too old to begin. One day he passed a 
spring where a stone seemed to be hollowed out 
by the water which constantly dripped on it, and 
it impressed him so that he began to reason with 
himself : Could a stone become so impressed by 
water, and why not a human heart by the words 
of God ? He immediately bid good-by to his 
beloved and loving wife and repaired to Jamnia,f 

* One of the ten martyrs in Israel. He died under the reign of 
Hadrian at the stake, as described in another part of this volume. 

f A well populated seaport town at the time of the Maccabees, 
and a seat of great rabbinical learning. 



I 10 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

where he entered the academy of R. Joshua and 
began to study hard and earnestly. He soon be- 
came an excellent scholar, and his great zeal and 
energy made him afterwards a renowned teacher 
and master, under whose tuition not less than 
twenty-four thousand pupils were graduated. 
When he returned to Jerusalem, it is useless to 
describe with what transport of joy his parents-in- 
law received him and embraced him as son-in-law. 

Tradition agrees with history in giving him a 
lifetime of one hundred and twenty years. 

Maimonides was also far advanced in years 
when he began to study. In his childhood's days 
he disliked schools, and his father one day severely 
upbraided him, and Moses (Maimonides) took it so 
to heart that he left home, sought admittance into 
a college and became afterward a great distin- 
guished scholar. 

— Ketkuboth, 62 — Nedatim, 50. 



NO ESCAPE FROM PUNISHMENT. 

How could the Lord impose punishment upon 
the sinner after he departed this world ? Cannot 
the soul say, I am not at fault, it is the body that 
carried me to sinfulness, behold, since I left it I 
am sinless? and cannot the body say, I am but 
clay and since the soul has left me I am immova- 
ble, from which it becomes evident that without 
the soul I cannot sin. It is the soul, therefore, 
that prompted me to sin? Let the following alle- 
gory explain : 

A prince, having had a desirable garden and 
wishing to have it guarded by such watchmen who 
cannot steal the fruit themselves, employed a blind 
and a lame man;* the blind could hear the ap- 
proach of intruders and give the alarm, or in case 
he should not hear, the lame will see and call 
aloud. The prince had one favorite tree bearing 
an excellent fruit, and the lame man one day de- 
scribed in such glowing manner the fruit to the 
blind confrere that he became desirous of eating it, 
and began to induce the lame comrade to go and 
pluck some of it. " How can we?" said the lame 
man, " I cannot climb and thou canst not see." 
" Easy enough," said the blind man. " I will stoop 
down and you stand on my shoulders. I will then 
arise and you will pluck the fruit ;" and thus they 



112 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

robbed the tree of its luscious product. The 
prince, coming to inspect his garden, found his fa- 
vorite fruit gone and called upon the watchmen to 
give account, but the blind one claimed he could 
not see and the lame one claimed he could not 
climb, hence they knew not who stole the fruit. 
The wise prince understood their scheme, and 
placed the lame man on the shoulders of the blind, 
and said, " this is the way ye have robbed my fruit, 
and this is the way I shall punish both of you." 

Likewise will the omniscient God judge the 
body and the soul, both shall suffer, for both are 
guilty. 

— Rabboth, 169 b, and Jalktit, 123 a. 



GOD'S LAW IN QUALITY, NOT IN QUAN- 
TITY. 

" And ye shall observe my statutes and my 
judgments which man shall do and live in 
them."' — Lev. xviii. 15. 

From this we infer that the statutes and judg- 
ments of God were given for man to govern his 
moral life, and though it was necessary in Moses' 
time to expand them to six hundred and thirteen, 
David condensed them to eleven in his fifteenth 
Psalm : " O Lord, who shall sojourn in thy tent ? 
Who shall dwell on thy holy mountain? He that 
is upright and acteth justly, and speaketh the 
truth with his heart ; having no slander on his 
tongue, nor doeth any evil to his neighbor, and 
beareth no reproach to him that come near him. 
The vile person is contemned in his eyes ; but 
honoreth those that fear the Lord, swearing away 
evil and changeth not his oath. His money he 
giveth not in usury, and takes no bribe against 
the innocent. He that doeth these shall never be 
moved." 

Isaiah composes them into six in his thirty-third 
chapter, verse 15 : 

" He that walketh righteously and speaketh up- 
rightly, despising the gain of oppressions, shaking 
his hands from obtaining bribe ; who stoppeth his 



114 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

ears from hearing blood-guiltiness, and shutteth 
his eyes from beholding evil. He shall dwell on 
high," etc. 

Micah incloses them in but three, Micah vi. 8 : 
*' And what doth the Lord require of thee but 
to do justly, and to love mercy ; and walk humbly 
before the Lord thy God." 

Later on Isaiah reproduced them, making but 
two, Isaiah lvi. i : 

" Observe ye justness and do rignteousness." 
Amos in his 5th chapter, 4th verse, comprises 
them in but one : 

" Thus sayeth the Lord to the house of Israel: 
Seek ye me and live." Our sages say, from this 
we can infer that in seeking God we comply with 
His law. Habakuk (chapter ii. 4) expresses glori- 
ously : " The just shall live in his faith." 

— Maccoth, 23 b. 



THE YOUTHFUL COMFORTERS. 

" And Haman was filled with anger." — Esther v. 9. 

At the time when all Jews of Medo-Persia were 
wrapt in deep gloom and mourning, caused by the 
wicked devices of Haman, Mordecai one day, as 
usual, came to the gate of the royal palace ; at the 
same time Haman and a host of friends also ap- 
peared. They were gleeful and in good spirit, 
especially when they beheld Mordecai bowed down 
with grief. Just then the children came from 
school, and Mordecai ran to meet some of them. 
Haman, inquisitive why Mordecai ran to these 
youths, quickly followed behind and overheard the 
following conversation : 

Mordecai : " My son, what was thy lesson to- 
day?" 

First boy : " From Proverbs iii. 25, 'Be not afraid 
of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the 
wicked, when it cometh ; for the Lord shall be thy 
confidence,' "■ etc. 

Mordecai : " What was thy lesson, my son ? " 

Second boy : " ' Take counsel together and it 
shall come to naught. Speak ye the word and it 
shall not stand, for God is with us/ " Isaiah viii. 10. 

Mordecai: " And thou, my son, what hast thou 
learned ? " 

Third boy : " I have read Isaiah xlvi. 4, 'And 



Il6 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

even to your old age I am he ; and even to hoary 
hairs will I carry you : I have made, and I will 
bear ; even I will carry and deliver you.' " 

Like a stimulant upon the languid soul acted 
these words upon the heart of Mordecai. His 
spirit expanded, and a trembling joy overtook him. 
He felt like robed in the garment of gladness, with 
hope of salvation overhanging him. He turned 
and saw Haman. " Ah ! " addressed he him : " hast 
thou heard these Jewish boys speak of God's word 
and what they promise ? They were inspired with 
the spirit of God." And Haman was filled with 
anger and walked off. 

— Esther Midr. Rabbah, 



WHERE GOLD TAKES THE PLACE OF 
KNOWLEDGE. 

The learned and renowned Rabbi Simeon on one 
occasion visited a wealthy friend in the city of 
Tyre, and while they were engaged in conversa- 
tion, the servant entered and asked the host 
whether he should prepare for dinner from the 
better or cheaper quality of lentils. " The cheaper 
quality will do," was the order ; and conversation 
continued. Dinner was announced, and the wealthy 
host invited the learned guest to the meal ; and, as 
the Rabbi accepted the invitation, the host left 
him for a moment to give orders to his servants 
to decorate the dining room pompously. As they 
entered the appartment, the Rabbi looked with 
amazement on the glittering metal of gold and 
silver in such profusion, interspersed with val- 
uable stones ; and he addressed himself to his 
friend, the host, in a jocular manner : " How comes 
so much splendor of gold, silver and diamonds in 
the house of one who is so particular in the quality 
of the lentils he eats ? " 

"Ah, my friend," responded the host, "ye 
learned man need no other but your wisdom to 
make you popular, but we would be unheeded 
were we not laden with these ornaments which 
make us conspicuous. Thus we must accumulate 
them/' 

— Midr. Meg. Esther. 120 a and b. 



OBEDIENCE DUE TO RULERS. 

A dispute arose once between the Rabbis Joshua 
and Gamliel concerning the day of Atonement. 
Each claimed another day it was to fall on, and 
one could not convince the other of the certainty 
of his claim. Rabbi Gamliel, being- the Nassi (chief 
of the rabbis), addressed R. Joshua thus : " I ad- 
jure thee, Joshua, to appear before me on the day 
thou claimest to be the day of atonement with thy 
staff and thy purse." * 

R. Joshua looked despondent and R. Akiba ad- 
dressed him : " Why is thy countenance so fallen, 
Joshua? Are not the appointed feasts of God 
celebrated as annunciated by the Nassi ? If then 
they give correct time or not, and do so adver- 
tently or inadvertently, or if they err, it is not 
our fault." 

" Ah, I am consoled, perfectly consoled ! " ejacu- 
lated Joshua. R. David ben Hirkanos offered an- 
other explanation : " From the laws of Moses we 
infer that we have to abide by the decision of the 
judge in any age. It says (Deutr. xvii. 9), ' Thou 
shalt come for adjudication before the judge that 
will be in those days' Would you perhaps say 

* Meaning that he should come attired as on ordinary days, as 
on holidays the Israelites were not allowed to carry with them even 
a cane, much less the purse which contains the means for traffic, etc. 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 1 19 

that then the people and times were better ? To this 
Solomon the Wise suggested : ' Say not that the 
former days were better than these.' " (EccL 
vii. 10.) 

On the appointed day R. Joshua announced 
himself to R. Gamliel : "Behold, I came to thy 
city, Jabne, with my staff and my purse on the day 
I claimed as the day of atonement, as thou hast 
bidden me." R. Gamliel arose from his seat and 
kissed R.Joshua's forehead, saluting him : " Peace 
be unto thee, my master and my pupil. My master 
thou art, for thou hast this time distinctly taught 
me a noble lesson, and my pupil thou art, for thou 
hast done as I have bidden thee. Blessed is the 
generation where the greater men obey the lesser 
ones if they are the rulers.' 

— Rosh Hashanah, 25 #» 



EVOLUTION OF GOD'S LAW. 

A wealthy and learned man had two intimate 
friends, and as he once departed on a journey, he 
wished to express his friendship for them, and left 
to each a measure of corn and a bundle of wool. 
One of the friends at once proceeded to grind the 
corn and made dough from the meal, baking it 
into a palatable bread. The wool he had spun and 
weaved for a cover on his table. 

The other friend preserved the present in the 
form it was given him. 

The learned man on returning home and visit- 
ing his friends, the first one invited him to partake 
of the bread he baked from the corn he received, 
and showed him the coverlet on his table produced 
from the wool, and the learned man rejoiced over 
his energy. The other friend, however; could only 
show him the corn and the wool as given to him, 
and the learned man reproved this friend for the 
lack of energy. 

This is the case with the law given on Sinai. 
We have to prepare it so that it shall become 
adaptable to the times, to follow it in the original 
form it has no semblance nor is it palatable. 

— Tana d>be Elia y 53. 



QUALITY BETTER THAN QUANTITY. 

Two learned men were occupied in one town as 
teachers. Both were profound scholars and very 
wise; one, however, directed more attention to 
explications of the complicated passages in law 
and lore, and the other was eloquent in speech ; he 
attracted large audiences with able lectures and 
splendid discourses. One day, as a multitude was 
attentively listening to him, he alluded to his con- 
temporary in the following terms: "Do you 
think that I am more learned than my friend ? Let 
this example tell you : 

When you go to a bazaar, you see a dealer in 
valuable jewels on one side and a dealer in needles 
on the other, where do you find more people as- 
sembled ? At the dealer of needles, of course ; and 
why ? Because the price of needles is such that 
everybody can afford to buy them, but not so with 
the precious jewelry. Thus you will find around 
the dealer of cheap wares more customers than 
around the dealer of valuable articles. Therefore, 
neither makes the multitude a cheap article more 
precious, nor becomes a rare object depreciated 
on account of the purchasers being few. 

— Sota, 40 a. 



HOSPITALITY. 

Raban Gamliel, the great master in Israel, once 
invited to his house to a festive board some wise 
rabbins, and as they all were assembled waiting 
for the festivity to begin, the host arose, signifying 
his intention to wait on his guests. 

The assembled guests emphatically protested 
against such procedure. The sage, thought they, 
should not so condescend. He was too high a 
dignitary, and they begged him to be seated by 
the table. Rabbi Joshua at last pacified them. 
He said : " If it is the pleasure of our venerable 
and revered host to wait on his guests, let him do 
so. He is surely not greater than was Abraham 
our progenitor. He, too, attended once to his 
guests." Inspirited by this explanation, another 
sage arose, saying : " I know one still greater who 
waits on his guests' table." " Who, pray, who 
can be greater than was Abraham?" inquired sev- 
eral voices. " It is the Holy One, blessed be He," 
was the reply. " Attends He not to all His crea- 
tures? Prepares He not their tables? Let our 
princely host, therefore, have his pleasure in wait 
ing on his guests." 

— JCidushin, 32. 



THE DERVISH AND THE INFIDEL. 

A man once came to a dervish (a Mohammedan 
priest) and said : " I wish to lay before you three 
questions, find me an answer if you can. First, 
you say that God is everywhere, why can I see 
him nowhere ? Second, you say that the power 
belongs to God, and all that is done is through 
Him ; how, then, can man be made responsible for 
his deeds? Third, you say that Satan consists of 
fire, and that hell is burning fire ; as fire cannot 
harm fire, what punishment is it for Satan to be 
put into hell?" The dervish unhesitatingly grasp- 
ed a heavy pitcher and threw it at the questioner's 
head. The man uttered a lamenting "yah allah ! " 
(Lord God) and went before the Kadi (judge) 
with his bleeding head. The dervish was sum- 
moned, and the judge asked him reproachfully 
whether this was the way a pious man should 
treat one coming to inquire about religious mat- 
ters. The dervish replied : " Why, my pitcher 
was simply the prompt answer to his three ques- 
tions. He doubted God's existence because he 
saw Him nowhere, but as soon as he felt the 
pitcher's weight at his head he shouted "yah 
allah ! " which is proof that he found out Allah's 
existence. His second doubt was about man's 
responsibility for his actions. Now, when my 



124 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

pitcher made his head bleed he did not summon 
God but me before the Kadi, thus showing his be- 
lief conclusively that every man is responsible for 
his deeds. And I claim to have settled also his 
third doubt about Satan and hell. My pitcher 
is clay, and he, as a mortal, is likewise of clay. If 
then clay can hurt clay, why should not fire be 
able to hurt fire ? " The man forgot his bleeding 
head on account of the good instruction he had 
received. 

— Dr. Huebsctis Desc. Orient. 



BE NOT FANATIC. 

After Jerusalem was destroyed and the gorgeous 
temple with it, some superstitious zealots vowed 
never to taste any more meat and wine. Rabbi 
Joshua, who then enjoyed a glorious reputation 
among his brethren, heard of this and sought to 
convince them of their folly. 

" Brethren," said he, " why will you abstain 
from meat and wine?" "Because, O master," 
said they, " meat and wine was sacrificed at the 
altar of God, and how could we now make these 
our food and drink ? ' 

" Ah," retorted the sage, "ye should then cease 
to eat bread, for that too was offered in former 
times." 

"Thou, O master, hast spoken right," said the 



TALMUD1C AND OTHER LEGENDS. 12 5 

zealots. " We will likewise abstain from bread, 
and make fruit our sustenance." 

" But from the fruit too the first ripe ones were 
brought to the altar of God," said Joshua. 

" Truly hast thou spoken," said they, " we will 
only seek such fruit that was not subject to this 
ordinance." 

" But ye must drink neither water, as the ablu- 
tions were made with water in the temple in 
former times," retorted Joshua. The fanatics 
stood in silence, not knowing what more to say, 
and the sage continued, " I would not for a 
moment advise you to forget Jerusalem and cease 
to mourn for it, but to mourn to excess is un- 
advisable, and results in no avail." 

— Baba Bathra, 60 b. 



THE RIGHTFUL FATHER. 

Why doth Israel call God their father . 

An orphan girl, forsaken and forlorn, was once 
rescued from her pitiable condition by a benev- 
olently inclined man, who raised and trained her, 
as though she were his own child. As she grew 
older, her foster parent selected her a suitable 
consort for life, and a notary was summoned to 
draw up a marriage contract (as was customary 
among Israelites, and is still so with the orthodox). 
He asked the damsel her name, which she readily 
gave; then he asked for her father's name, but 
she hesitated, gazing sweetly at her benefactor, 
and the scribe asked why she hesitated ? She then 
sternly replied, in terms that conveyed a deep 
meaning, " Behold, this noble man is my rightful 
father ! " 

In such emphatic terms had Israel declared 
God as their father after their deliverance from 
Egypt. " Why," asked God, " have ye forgotten 
your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? " " Nay, 
we have not," replied Israel, " but we were like 
orphans, forsaken and forlorn, and Thou hast re- 
deemed us from our pitiable condition and trained 
us as Thy children, hence we recognize Thee as our 
rightful father/' 

— Babboth, 160 b. 



HOW TO DRINK, 

" And Noah began to be a husbandman 
and planted a vineyard, and he drank of 
the wine and was drunken." — Genesis 
ix. 20, 21. 

As Noah was planting- the vineyard, Satan came 
along- and inquisitively asked Noah what he was 
at, and Noah answered, " I am planting a vine- 
yard." " A vineyard ! " asked Satan in astonish- 
ment, " what shall a vineyard be good for ? " " It 
shall bring forth fruit, luscious and sweet, and if 
pressed out will produce a refreshing beverage," 
explained Noah. " Ah, indeed ! " exclaimed Satan. 
" That must be a glorious fruit. Give me a share 
in the cultivation, there is plenty of soil;" to which 
Noah had no objection, and both were planting 
vineyards. Satan devoted a good deal of his time 
to this enterprise, and, as he saw one day the little 
grapes advancing, he proposed to Noah, " Let us 
now consecrate our fruit and all its kindred to the 
use of man. Let us endow it with the nature of 
mine and your principles." How can that be 
done ? " asked Noah. " Ah, since thou knowest it 
not, I will do the work myself, " said Satau and 
away he flew. He returned in an instant, grasped 
in his left hand an innocent lamb bleating for its 
life, and a knife in his outstretched right. 



128 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

He slaughtered the poor creature and sprinkled 
its blood over the grapes. This done, he flew 
away again and returned this time with a roaring 
lion held by the throat. The terrified Noah wit- 
nessed in profound silence this act of consecra- 
tion, while Satan plunged the knife into the royal 
beast and sprinkled the flowing blood on the 
grapes. 

" This I have done for your share, addressed 
he Noah, "and now will come mine; and once 
more he vanished, returning this time with a 
frightened ape and a grunting swine. These too 
he slaughtered and sprinkled their blood on the 
grapes, and the act of consecration was completed. 

Thus it is that the wine and its kindred pos- 
sess the virtue they primevally received from 
the hands of Satan. If you drink the first glass you 
may retain your lamb-like innocence ; the second 
will embolden you like a lion (often to mischie- 
vousness); a third glass will make of you a 
monkey, and a fourth will change you into a swine. 
Noah not having understood Satan's diabolic con- 
secration, drank more than his own share and be- 
came intoxicated. 

Moral: Drink, if you drink at all, to imbibe 
Noah's principles, but leave Satan's alone. 

— falkut to Genes., 16 a. 



THE SWEETEST CONDOLENCE. 

Rabbi Jochanan ben Zakai, it is related, lost a 
hopeful son in prime of life, and his disciples came 
to offer him condolence, but they found their re- 
vered master inconsolable, and the following argu- 
ments ensued : 

Rabbi Eliezer : " Why, O master, shouldst thou 
mourn so deeply ? Hath not Adam, the first man, 
lost his son Abel, one of two in the whole world, 
and was consoled ; and God blessed him with 
sons and daughters thereafter ? " 

Rabbi Jochanan : " Is not my grief heavy 
enough ? Why addest thou to it by reminding 
me of Adam's grief ? " 

Rabbi Joshua : " O master, think of Job. He lost 
all his sons and daughters in one day, and yet his 
words were, ' God gave and God took, blessed be 
the name of God.' " 

Rabbi Jochanan : " Woe me ! woe me ! Why 
tellest thou me of Job's bereavement yet? " 

Rabbi Josai : " Did not Aaron lose two sons in 
one day, dying in the sanctuary, and he kept si- 
lence?" 

Rabbi Jochanan : " Woe was unto these righte- 
ous men, who could bring me their retribution ! " 

Rabbi Simeon : " Did not David lose a beloved 



I30 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

son for whom he mourned bitterly, but was 
finally consoled ? " 

Rabbi Jochanan : " Pray cease, for all this can- 
not console me ! " Here Rabbi Eliezer came for- 
ward once more, and in his winning way began : 
" O master, listen to my parable. A monarch 
once intrusted into the care of one of his subjects 
a valuable vessel for safe keeping, to be returned 
when called for. This faithful subject, not know- 
ing when the monarch might reclaim this vessel, 
yearned and desired to be able to return it in good 
condition. Thy son, O revered master, like that 
vessel, full of virtue and piety, was he not en- 
trusted into thy c?re for safe-keeping by the 
Monarch of monarchs? And shouldst thou not 
praise the Lord that thou wert able to return him 
so pure and so perfect as was thy son ? Should 
this not be your sweetest consolation ? " " Ah ! " 
exclaimed Rabbi Jochanan, raising his eyes and 
hands heavenward, " blessed be thou, Eliezer, 
from God, thou hast perfectly consoled me ! " 

— Abdr. Nathan, 14. 



ISRAEL'S FAITH IN GOD. 

A man once plighted his faith and love to a 
fair damsel, and they lived together in happiness 
and contentment. But it so happened that he was 
called away from her to a long distance, and she 
was left alone. Long, long, she waited for his re- 
turn, but he came not. While friends pitied her, 
her adversaries taunted her with discouraging 
words : " He will never come back to thee ! " But 
she would retire into her solitude, and there read 
and re-read the affectionate letters her spouse 
wrote to her, in which he vowed and pledged to 
be faithful and true to her. They comforted 
and consoled her, and she dried her tears con- 
fidently. At last her beloved returned, and he 
asked her : " Did you ever doubt my faithfulness 
to thee as others did? " She drew forth the letters 
he wrote to her, and declared : " How could I 
have doubted thy faithfulness when I have day by 
day read thy pledges and vows of everlasting 
love ? " 

This woman is Israel, and the lover is God. 
She — Israel — was oppressed and derided by na- 
tions and people, and mocked in their hope 
of redemption ; but Israel withdrew in retire- 
ments of schools and synagogues, where they read 
and re-read the love letters — Scriptures — God 



132 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

wrote to them, and they believed in the holy and 
sublime promises they contain ; and in all adverse 
conditions of life, in their bitterness and in their 
suffering, they expressed their unshaken faith in 
God in the words of the Psalmist : " Had not thy 
law, O God, been my delight, I should have 
surelv oerished in mine affliction " (Psalm cxix. 92). 

— Echa Rabba, "]6a. 



THE BENEDICTION. 

" Bless me, O master," said Rabbi Nachman to 
Rabbi Yitzchak, who had enjoyed the hospitality 
of the former, and was now ready to depart. 
" Bless me before thou goest." 

Rabbi Yitzchak was silent for a moment, then 
he began : " Listen to me. A man was once trav- 
elling in a desert, and as he became weary and 
tired, he sat down to rest beneath the shadow of 
a stately tree that bore a luscious fruit, with a 
brook of crystal-clear water flowing beneath it. 
Hungry and thirsty, he satiated himself with the 
fruit, and refreshed his palate with the water. 
After he rested his weary limbs, and was ready to 
depart, he began : ' O thou precious tree, where- 
with should I bless thee ere I go ? Should I wish 
that thy fruit shall be prolific and sweet ? Thou 
art laden with the sweetest fruit. Should I bless 
thee that thou mayest have abundance of foliage 
for shade? Thou hast a beautiful shade. Should 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 1 33 

I bless thee that thou shouldst have plenty of water 
to supply thy root? Behold ! there floweth a re- 
freshing stream beneath thee. May it then be ac- 
ceptable that all the plants coming- from thee shall 
be blessed like thee.' Likewise, my generous host, 
can I ask, wherewith should I bless thee ? That 
thou shouldst have learning ? Thou art a scholar. 
That thou shouldst be honored and respected ? 
Thou enjoyest the veneration of all that know thee. 
That thou shouldst become rich? Thou hast all 
and everything in affluence. That thou shouldst 
have good children ? Thou hast excellent and beau- 
tiful children. May it then be acceptable that all 
thy successors may be like thee, and be blessed 
like thee." 

— Taanithy 5 b. 



VANITY. 



" A man's pride shall bring him low; 

But honor shall uphold the humble in spirit." 

— Prov. xxix. 23. 

A stag came to a brook to quench his thirst, and 
beheld in the clearness of the water the reflection 
of his stature. He was filled with admiration over 
the beauty of his horns and he rejoiced, feeling very 
proud; but glancing down at his legs, his coun- 
tenance fell, and he grieved in his heart over this 
defect. While he thus stood brooding over this 
imperfection, he espied some hunters and took to 
flight. 



154 TALIvIUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

The legs he felt so bad about, carried him 
swiftly away, and he would have escaped the 
hunters, but the horns, in which he so prided 
himself, caught in some bushes and caused his 
death. It is the same with man. " His pride shall 
bring him low, but honor shall uphold the humble 
in spirit." 

— Oral tradition. 



A Canaanite bought a graven image, and put it 
on the back of his ass to carry it home to his 
place. On the road all the people that met them 
bowed down at beholding the image, and the ass 
thought that these honors were shown to her. 
This made the animal haughty, and she began to 
be stubborn, refusing to listen to the master, who 
took a rod and beat her. So it is with some, who 
are possessed of riches, on which account they are 
shown honor; could they but comprehend that 
the honors shown them are to the wealth they 
carry they would drop their haughtiness and vain 
pride; for " a man's pride shall bring him low, 
but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit." 

— Ibidem. 



POWER OF THE TONGUE. 

" Death and life are in the power of the tongue.''" 

— Prov. xviii. 21. 

Rabbi Simeon had a wise servant, Tobia by- 
name, who was wont to make the purchases of the 
necessaries of the house. The rabbi, to try his 
shrewdness one day, told him to bring from market 
the best thing he could find, and Tobia brought 
home a tongue. The master wondered why his 
servant should have selected the tongue as the 
best thing. Could he not find many better things ? 
But before he would put to him these questions, 
he decided to send him to market the following 
day, with directions to bring the worst thing he 
could find ; and, lo, the servant again brought a 
tongue. "How is this, Tobia?" asked Rabbi 
Simeon. " Yesterday I told thee to bring the 
best thing thou couldst find in the market, 
and thou hast brought home a tongue ; to-day I 
have told thee to bring the worst, and thou 
bringest a tongue again?" " Pardon me, O 
rabbi," replied the servant, " is there anything 
better than the tongue ? And, again, is there any- 
thing worse than the tongue? According how 
the tongue is employed. Solomon, the king, said 
correctly : " Death and Life are in the power of 
the tongue ' "' (Prov. xviii. 21). This convinced the 



I $6 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

rabbi of the servant's wisdom, and he promoted 
him to a higher servility, viz., the study of law and 
lore ; and in after years Tobia turned out to be 
a great scholar and a shining light. 

— Vajikra Rabba> 33. 



THE POWER OF GOD. 

At the time the Jews lived under the Syrian 
vassalage, the king one day, after having listened 
to the high-priest declaring the power of God, 
said : " I honor your God who is so great and 
powerful, yet since He permitted me to conquer 
you, His people, He, too, must recognize my 
power and significance. Extend to Him, therefore, 
my invitation to a feast I will prepare, and see to 
it that He shall attend, or else I will hold you and 
your people accountable and make you suffer for 
the consequences ;" and without giving the high- 
priest opportunity to reply the monarch departed. 

The day arrived when, in the garden of the 
king, situated adjacent to the sea-shore, a great, 
an extraordinarily great feast was prepared. The 
high-priest was summoned and appeared, but he 
assumed a place in a remote corner and engaged 
in prayer. The sun shone forth in lustrous bright- 
ness, lending grandeur to the occasion, and the 
azure sky bore testimony to the sun's illuminative 
qualities. The festivity began, and the high-priest 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 137 

was informed that the king and his court were 
ready to receive and entertain the God of the 
Hebrews, but the high-priest, seemingly absorbed 
in prayer, gave no reply. Again he was reminded 
of this, but ere he could have answered, were he 
inclined to, a sudden breeze arose which rapidly 
grew into a wind ; soon it became a hurricane, 
and finally began to grasp the tent, tables, chairs, 
and all that was in its way, carrying them into the 
sea and burying them into its billowy waves. 
The king became uneasy, and inquired of the 
high-priest whether he knew the cause of this 
phenomenon. " My God is approaching," replied 
he, " and these elements are His servants sent to 
clear the way before their Almighty Master, as 
on Mount Horeb in Elijah's time " (see 1 Kings 
xix. 11, 12). The king trembled, and fearing per- 
adventure, another gust would come and sweep 
him along, quickly replied : " Oh, inform your 
God that He need not come if it is His displea- 
sure. If He is so powerful I am unworthy of His 
visit. Ah, if His servants have such might, how 
great must be the might of the Master! " 

Rabboth, 20 b. 



JUSTICE AND TRUTH. 

"Truth shall sprout from the earth, and righteousness shall look 
down from heaven." — Psalm lxxxv. 10. 

On that memorable day when the all-wise Ello- 
him said, " Let us make man in our image," there 
reigned throughout the celestial domains silence 
most profound. The angels stood in awe and 
reverence, attentively listening to the Great Crea- 
tor, the Holy One, blessed be He! 

The angel of truth broke the silence. He 
stepped to the mercy seat of the Creator, exclaim- 
ing : " Create no man, O Most High! It is not 
hid from Thy omniscient knowledge how false 
and void of truth the children of man will be." 

Thereupon the angel of mercy arose, pleading 
in accents most touching : " Mercy ! have mercy, 
O Most High! Thou also knowest how kind and 
charitable the sons of man are destined to be ! 
Create him, therefore, O Lord ! create him ac- 
cording to Thy infinite wisdom." 

In support of the angel of truth the angel of 
peace arose, earnestly protesting, " O God, create 
no man ! for strife and discord will hold sway 
among mankind." 

Here the angel of righteousness and justice 
arose, pleading most suppliantly : " Be righteous 
and just, O Creator! Cease not to carry out Thy 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 139 

glorious plan and create man. I will watch over 
the peace of his children." 

The last sound had faded away, and again great 
silence reigned as before, until the Holy One, 
blessed be He, created man and gave His dictum. 

" Truth shall sprout from the earth, and right- 
eousness shall look down from heaven ! " Thus it 
is that truth abides on earth. Each and every 
one seeks it, and each and every one finds it in 
different directions, and what mortal can assert or 
dispute somebody else's truth justly and right- 
eously ? That perspicacity abides in heaven. 

—Rabboth, 8 a. 



GREATNESS IS NOT IN TUMULT. 

A king, once on a tour of inspection through his 
provinces and domains, was expected to arrive in a 
certain city, and the streets were thronged with 
people anxious to see the sovereign. Rab She- 
shet, a blind scholarly man, had also turned out 
among the vast multitude, and that attracted the 
attention of an individual, who ironically re- 
marked : " Whole vessels must needs go to the 
well, but of what necessity will broken ones go ? " 
Rab Sheshet comprehended that this satire was in- 
tended for him, and promptly replied : " Wait 
awhile, friend, and I willconvince thee that I, in 
my blind state, can see many things better than 
thou canst with thy eyes open." Soon a noisy 



140 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

procession was approaching and the man ex- 
claimed, " The king- is coming ! " " Oh, no ! " said 
the rabbi, " the king is not yet coming. I will tell 
thee when he will come." Another tumult passed 
by, even more noisy than the first, and again the 
man called "Here comes the king!" But the 
rabbi again corrected him, " This also is not the 
king." Finally another procession came on, glid- 
ing by quietly and in respectful silence. " Here 
comes the king ! " exclaimed the blind sage, and it 
really was the king, his guard, and his escort. 
"How could you tell?" asked the man in aston- 
ishment. " Ah ! " responded Rab Sheshet, " great- 
ness and excellency appears not with noise and 
tumult, but with respect and quietness. When 
God appeared to Elijah on Mount Horeb there 
came a storm, but God was not in the storm ; 
there came fire and earthquake, but God was in 
none of these phenomena ; but He came in a soft 
tender voice, and likewise is it on earth, the great- 
er the man the less his noise." 

— Berachoth, 58 a. 



A POINT OF LAW. 

A certain wise man from a distant land sent his 
only son to Jerusalem to study and while there 
the father took sick, and feeling that his end was 
approaching, with no other but one of his slaves 
near him, he willed his entire property to this 
slave with the proviso that his son should be at 
liberty to choose one object of inheritance, and 
the sage expired. 

The interment over, the slave hastened to Jeru- 
salem to inform the son of what had transpired, 
and produced his will, urging the son to make his 
one choice. The grief to the son was double. 
He lost an affectionate father and being disin- 
herited. The time allotted for mourning was 
over and he sought the counsel of his preceptor, 
complaining bitterly : 

" Never have I in the least incurred the dis- 
pleasure of my father, and, lo, he has disinherited 
me ! One choice he left me and the slave gets 
all and everything! " 

" Not so, my son," retorted the wise teacher. 
" Cease complaining. Thy father has acted wisely, 
as is shown by the very will, and mayest thou, his 
son, be as wise in thy days." 

The son could not comprehend wherein lay the 
wisdom, and the preceptor explained : 



I42 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

" Thy father, no doubt, had none else at his bed- 
side when he felt the approach of death but this 
slave. Should he have willed the property to 
thee the slave might have held thy father's death 
concealed from thee long enough to plunder all 
the property, or he might not have informed thee 
at all. This way the father knew that the slave 
would think himself master of all, thus he would 
neither steal from the property nor hesitate to 
inform thee of thy father's demise, who thinking at 
the same time that thou wilt know that the property 
of a slave, like the slave himself, belongs to the 
master, and thus he left one choice to thee. 
Choose therefore the slave ; and all is thine. 
But, I see that thou wert too young to compre- 
hend." 

"Ah ! I see ! " exclaimed the son joyfully. " Yes, 
I see indeed that wisdom abides with the aged, and 
understanding in length of days," and acting on 
the advice of his teacher he became master of his 
father's estate. 

—Jalkui Koheh, 668. 



LEARNING BETTER THAN GOLD. 

A learned man was a passenger on a vessel 
where some merchants, carrying- rich wares to 
distant lands, were embarked. They mistook the 
scholar for a business man, and were endeavoring 
to find out what merchandise he carried, but as 
they were unable to do so, they inquired of him 
personally, and he answered them, " The goods 
I carry are far more precious and valuable than 
your goods." The merchants, not understanding 
his meaning, became ironical, and asked him in 
satiric manner, " Where are your goods? Do 
they require no storehouse ? " and, searching every 
nook and apartment of the vessel with no avail, 
they made t'he scholar the object of their ridicule. 
During the voyage the vessel was captured by 
pirates, who robbed the passengers of all their 
money and valuables, and ransacked the vessel of 
all its lading, leaving the merchants destitute and 
poor. The learned man, as soon as they reached 
the land, visited the colleges and academies, and 
his high attainments soon procured him lucrative 
employment as teacher, and he became renowned 
and influential, while the merchants had to appeal 
for aid to charitably inclined people. However 
pitiable their conditions were, in whatever mourn- 
ful tale they related their misfortune, they were 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

not believed, and the unfortunate strangers suf- 
fered want and privation. They meanwhile, 
learning- of the success of their singular fellow- 
passenger, condescended to appeal to him for 
help, as he was acquainted with their misfor- 
tune. He, knowing their condition, felt compas- 
sion for them, and would by no means have 
thought to retaliate, but helped them all he 
could. Yet he could not refrain from teaching 
them a valuable lesson and he said : " Can ye now 
see of what my goods consisted ? It did not 
perish like yours. Let this misfortune, therefore, 
teach you that it is not the quantity but the 
quality of goods that should be desirable, as you 
perceive that my goods — my learning — are more 
valuable than the gold you had." 

—Jalkut, 2, 133. 



THE PUREST SACRIFICE. 

It was customary with Israelites in olden times 
to bring sacrifice in every event of life. Thus a 
poor man once, recovering from sickness, sought 
the temple of God. But he was ashamed to enter 
as he had no sacrifice with him, and he stood out- 
side listening to the strains of music and the 
voices of hymnals. He heard the chanting of 
psalms, and closely listening, he understood the 
words, " Thou desirest no sacrifice or else I would 
give it; thou delightest not in burnt offering. 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 145 

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, and a 
contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." 
He thereupon entered among others and pros- 
trated himself before the priest as those did that 
brought sacrifice. "What wilt thou, my son?" 
asked him the priest, "hast thou an offering?" 
" O my father," replied he, " last night a poor 
widow, mother of children, came to me for help 
and 1 gave her the two pigeons which I intended 
to bring for a sacrifice." " Bring then," said the 
priest, " an ephah* of fine flour." "Sickness had 
so impoverished me," pleaded the poor man, " that 
I have scarcely enough left for my poor hungry 
children, and I could not even bring this small 
measure of flour." " Why, then, comest thou 
hither? " inquired the priest. " Because," said the 
poor man, " I heard just now sung, ' The sacrifices 
of God are a broken spirit,' etc. Will God not 
accept my sacrifice consisting of the prayer, ' O 
God, be merciful to me, a poor sinner?'" The 
priest stretched forth his hands and lifted the 
poor man from the ground, muttering, "Ay, my 
son, blessed shalt thou be. Better far than thou- 
sands of rivers of oil is thy offering." 

— Tradition, 

* A measure of Hebrew origin containing a little more than three 
pecks. 



GAM ZU L'TOBAH. 

There lived once a very pious and scholarly 
man whose name was Nahura the Gam Zu, re- 
ceiving this surname from his frequent utterance 
of gam zu Vtobah (this is also for the best). What- 
ever befell him he would utter these words with 
pious resignation. 

In his old age he was disabled and crippled, 
suffering at times untold agony, and was unable 
to help himself. One day his disciples visited 
him, and, seeing his sufferings, asked, " How 
comes it, O master, that such perfectly righteous 
man as thou art should be visited so sorely ? " " Ah, 
my sons," said he, woefully, " I fully deserve this, 
and it is even my own sentence. I was once 
travelling, and had three asses laden with food, 
with beverages, and with wearing apparel, when 
I reached a house. I just wanted to enter, and a 
poor man cried unto me for help. I heard it and 
told him to wait till I unloaded my asses. I 
did go out to him as promised, but it was too 
late. The poor unfortunate man fell down from 
sheer exhaustion and expired. I fell on his face 
and began to pray for mercy and forgiveness, 
and I have pronounced my sentence, viz. : that 
the eyes that had no pity should become dim ; 
;the hands that extended not the immediate help 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. \\J 

should become benumbed ; and my feet that has- 
tened not to help should become paralyzed ; and 
behold, when I was ready to rise, my sentence 
took effect, and I had to be carried away. But 
gam zu Vtobah — this is also for the best. 

— Taanitk, 21. 



THE HEREAFTER. 

There lived some time in the thirteenth century 
two scholars, both of high culture and unlimited 
knowledge ; both of profound thought and sound 
understanding ; and they were greatly attached 
to one another, as, from their early youth to 
ripe old age, they spent their time together in 
the search of knowledge, both religious and pro- 
fane. 

An idea occurred to them to explore all possible 
knowledge to find how the body and soul of man 
are combined ; and, when the body returns to 
earth and the soul ascends to Him who hath given 
it, how the separation takes place ; but all their 
efforts and exertions afforded them no satisfac- 
tory result, and they concluded to abandon this 
fallacious research. They, however, agreed to 
enter into a covenant, which they confirmed by 
solemn oath, that the one who should die first 
should come to his living associate and inform him 
of the state in the hereafter. The time came when 
one died and was buried by a large concourse of 



I48 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

friends. As they reached the burying ground, 
the surviving friend requested to halt a while, in- 
forming the congregation of the oath that existed 
between him and the deceased, and the request 
was granted. The lid was removed from the cof- 
fin, but the features of the corpse looked as if he 
wanted to speak but could not, and the lid was re- 
placed and the body interred. 

Time wore on and the surviving friend thought 
himself entirely forgotten by his demised asso- 
ciate, when one night he appeared to him in 
a dream begging piteously to be released from his 
oath, " for," said he, " the great futurity must 
remain a secret till that great morning shall dawn. 
It is for the welfare of the living not to know 
the state of the hereafter." He awoke from 
his dream and released his dead friend from his 
oath. 

^Kav Hajashar, 88. 



FILIAL HONOR. 



Netina, a heathen living in Ashkalon, had a 
son named Demah. One day the elders of Israel 
came to Netina's house to purchase a precious 
stone he possessed, and which they needed for 
the ephod of the priest. Its price was a thousand 
gold shekels. Demah went to his father's cham- 
ber to get the stone, but saw him sleeping, his 
feet resting on the chest the stone was in, and 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

he returned without the jewel rather than to wake 
his lather. The elders departed, thinking- mean- 
while that he wanted a better price, and soon re- 
turned with the resolution to pay ten thousand 
shekels for it; but Demah declared: "If ye give 
me this house full of gold and silver I will not 
wake my father from his sleep." The elders 
waited a while and Netina awoke. The son then 
gave them the stone in question. The elders 
having promised ten thousand shekels, now 
counted out that amount, but Demah refused to 
take any more than its former price, saying : 
" Far be it from me to sell my father's honor." 

— Kidnshim, 31 a. 

Another remarkably honoring son was Abini. 
He had five children, but he would not allow 
them to even open the door for their grandfather 
when he was present, as he wanted to do him 
honor himself, and thereby he taught his children 
filial honor. On one occasion his father wished 
for a glass of water, and Abini went to get it, 
meanwhile the father fell asleep, and he stood by 
his father's side with the glass in his hand until he 
awoke. 

—Ibid. 



THE COMPUTATION OF LIFE-TIME. 

A young man of good qualities and noble pro- 
pensities departed this life and the following par- 
able was spoken by a sage over his bier: In a 
gorgeous vineyard many laborers were working, 
among which was a young man who was conspicu- 
ous for his zeal and earnestness in the labor. He 
worked but a few hours when the master came 
and took him away to spend the remainder of the 
day in his own company. 

As the laborers came in the evening to receive 
their wages, the master paid them and the young 
man alike, at which the laborers were displeased 
and murmured, " Why should this young man, who 
worked but a few hours, receive the same wages 
as we do, who worked all day ? " " But this young 
man," rejoined the master, " has in a few hours 
done as much as ye have done the whole day." 
Such is the case with the young man whose prema- 
ture death we now mourn. He has lived only a 
few years, but he has in this short time accumu- 
lated deserts as many as others have during many 
years of prolonged life ; and now God calls him to 
himself and will undoubtedly pay him equal re- 
ward with those that departed this life in old age. 

— Shir Hashirim Rabba, 31 b. 



VERITABLE CHARITY. 

Abraham was the most charitable and hospitable 
man of his age. It is related that he watched for 
strangers passing by his tent and ran to meet 
and invite them to partake of his hospitality. 
For each he had a meal prepared, and when they 
attemped to thank him for his generosity he would 
interrupt them, and impress it upon them that it 
was not he whom they owed thanks, but — " Praise 
and thank Him," he would say, " who supplies 
me with a sufficiency that I am enabled to extend to 
others what I should desire that they would extend 
to me were I a stranger in their land." 

Rabbi Hillel, again, was the most charitable of 
his age. He was accustomed to send every 
Friday, and every day preceding a holiday, 
victuals and money to the poor people in order to 
enable them to observe the Sabbath and holidays 
with gladness of heart. 

Mar Ukba was another man very charitably 
inclined. He was once told that a man upon 
whom he bestowed his charity was an habitual 
wine drinker (but not a drunkard). " Ah, that I 
knew not ! " said Mar Ukba, and after that he 
sent him an additional amount to supply him with 
wine also, as it is written in the holy law (Deut. 
xv. 8), " Thou shall surely open thine hand wide 
unto him (speaking of a poor brother), and lend 
him sufficient to appease his want. 

— Kethuboth, 67 b. 



152 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 



WHY GOD DESTROYS NO IDOLS. 

Some philosopher asked Raban Gamaliel, u why 
does your God not destroy the idols, if he forbids 
idolatry?" The sage replied in a parable : "A 
monarch had once a wayward son, who in his 
mischievousness had the audacity to name his dog 
after his father. Whom should the father have 
punished, the dog or the son?" " But," asserted 
the philosopher, " if the idols were destroyed, idol- 
atry would not exist." " Yes," replied the sage, 
" if the objects of worship were only such that are 
otherwise useless to the world ; but some of these 
objects are of the most vital importance to the 
entire human family." " But," continued the philo- 
sopher, " why not destroy those objects which are 
useless and are still objects of idolatry ? " " Be- 
cause," explained Gamaliel, " if the useless objects, 
sun, moon, stars, etc., were destroyed, the wor- 
shippers of the spared idols would then for cer- 
tainty accept that their gods are the true ones. It 
is therefore the will of God to let them all exist. 
Listen to this parable : A man once stole some 
wheat and sowed it into his field ; should the wheat, 
because it was stolen, not have grown ? Nay, the 
wheat must vegetate, the earth perform its natural 
functions, but the thief who stole the wheat de- 
serves punishment." 

— Aboda Zara, 54 and 55. 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 153 



METHOD OF TEACHING. 

Rabbi Akiba said : A man is in duty bound to 
instruct his pupil until the latter becomes thorough- 
ly acquainted with the subject of instruction, and 
this we infer from the ways of Moses. He in- 
structed first Aaron the command he received 
from the Lord, then came the sons of Aaron and 
he instructed them in the hearing of their father. 
Then came the elders and he instructed them in 
the presence of the priests ; then came the whole 
congregation and he instructed them in the pres- 
ence of the priests and elders. By this method 
Aaron heard the lessons four times, his sons three 
times, the elders twice, and the whole congrega- 
tion once. Hereupon Moses left and Aaron re- 
peated the lesson before the whole assembly. Then 
Aaron left and the sons repeated the lesson, and 
now Aaron's sons left and the elders.rehearsed the 
lesson. In this wise every one received the same in- 
struction four times over. From this Rabbi Eleazar 
ben Azariah infers that a teacher must repeat a 
lesson with his pupil at least four times. 

— Erubim, 54 b. 



RESPECT THE CUSTOM. 

Ever govern yourself according to prevalent 
custom. This we learn greatly from Moses who 
when in heaven abstained from food and drink, 



154 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

because such is the custom in celestial domains; 
while the angels when visiting Abraham regarded 
the custom of man, and they ate and drank. — Bab. 
Mez., no b. 

In Maase d'rab Eliezer it is expressed somewhat 
like this : 

Where others weep beware of merry-making, 

Nor shalt thou, when all are gleeful, weep ; 
And why shouldst thou when others sleep be waking, 

Or be waking when all others sleep ? 
Be not thou seated when others have to stand ; 

Nor stand thou alone when others sit — 
Be ever guarded, at whate'er place or land, 

Not to do what custom won't permit, 
Only swerve from this if must be ; 
But be sure you're acting justly. 



CONVERT YOUR OWN BEFORE YOU 
CONVERT OTHERS. 

The following dialogue took once place between 
an idolater and Rabbi Joshuah ben Karchah : 

Idolater : " Is it not written in thy book of 
laws ' follow the majorities,' and why do ye not 
follow us, are we not far in the majority ?" 
Rabbi : " Have you any children ? " 
Id. : Oh, me ! that thou remindest me of my 
trouble ! " 

Rabbi : " Why, hast thou no children ? " 
Id. : ." Aye, I have children, but day by day 
there is quarrel amongst them on account of their 
belief. Each believes differently." 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 1 55 

Rabbi : " And why makest thou no peace 
dmongst them ? " 

Id. : " Would I could, but they listen not to 
me." 

Rabbi : " If then thou art unable to pacify thy 
own children, why direct thy efforts towards us ? " 
The rabbi's disciples listening to this now spoke: 

Disciples : " Thou hast, O master, defeated him 
with a straw and a mere broken reed." 

Rabbi : " Not so, my sons. Is not God with all 
people and nations, and are they not in the great 
majority ? But Israel is a singular people. They 
say and believe ' The Lord is our God, the Lord 
is One ! ' " 

— R abbot h, 169 b. 

SPIRIT OF ADVANCEMENT. 

Rabbi Judah Hanassi, the editor of the Mishna, 
had on one occasion given privilege to do a cer- 
tain thing which theretofore was considered reli- 
giously forbidden. His friends and relatives con- 
sequently assembled and reproached him severely. 
"Why," said they in alarm, " what thy fore- 
fathers and ancestors have declared forbidden ven- 
turestthou to make permissible ? " But he palliat- 
ed them, bringing inferences from holy writ. 
" For instance," declared he, " Hezekiah destroyed 
the serpent of copper which Moses had made in 
the wilderness because Israel had idolized it. 
How could he destroy what Moses made and 
what his ancestors left unabolished ? Have not 



156 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

Assa and Jehoshaphat destroyed all idols, and yet 
thought not of the serpent which Israel now had 
worshipped? They have overlooked it and Heze- 
kiah deemed it proper to remedy an old error. 
Likewise can we infer that, if anything becomes 
idolatrous or absurd, notwithstanding our ances- 
tors have hallowed it, we shall discard it and ac- 
cept amendations made by learned men who 
understand to correct old errors. " 

— Chulin. 6. 



HUMANE LAW. 

Rabba bar bar Channah once hired two labor- 
ers to haul him home some wine, and as accident 
had it, one of the vessels got broke and the con- 
tents spilled. Rabba demanded indemnity for his 
loss and took the robes of the laborers as security. 
The unfortunate hirelings went to Rav (or Rabbi 
Aba in full) and laid their grievance before him. 
The kind rabbi summoned the employer of these 
men and urged him to return their garments. 

" By what law canst thou judge thus?" asked 
Bar bar Chanah. " By the sacred dictum in Prov. 
ii. 20, ' That thou mayest walk in the way of good 
men ; ' " and the garments were restored unto their 
owners. But the plaintiffs, pressed by poverty, 
pleaded further : " O Rabbi, we are poor, and if 
we should receive no wages to-day our wives and 
children will suffer for bread." The rabbi in soft 
tones addressed Bar bar Chanah : " O give them 
their wages." " What ! " retorted the owner of 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 1 57 

the wine, " they have incurred a loss on me and I 
shall yet pay them wages? What law is that?" 
"The same just and humane law as the former. 
It is written (ibid.) : ' And keep the paths of the 
righteous.' " 

— Bab a Mezia, 83 a. 



LET HARD WORK NOT SCARE YOU. 

A certain king had in his garden a very deep 
cavity penetreating into the ground so deep that 
the bottom was scarcely visible. One day he 
desired that cavity filled up and hired some labor- 
ers who were to collect earth and other loose ma- 
terial sufficient for the work ; but some at seeing 
the deep cavity were scared and asked, " How is 
it possible to fill that immense depth up ? " But 
others more considerate calmed them by saying : 
" What does it matter if the cavity is ever so 
deep ? we are paid by the day and we ought to be 
glad that we found employment. Let us do our 
duty and that is all there is expected of us." 

Likewise do some men say, " Oh, how vast is 
God's law ! It is deeper than the sea and higher 
than the sky. How many precepts and how many 
doctrines! How can we comply with them all? 
But the Holy One, blessed be He, demands of us 
no impossibilities. Let us do our duty and comply 
with what we can, and it will be acceptable in the 
eyes of God. 

— Jalkut, 271 b. 



158 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 



A TIME TO HONOR MAN. 

A pious man was once travelling and as the tim^ 
arrived for prayer he halted and performed his de. 
votion. Just then a magnate came along and saluted 
him, but the praying traveller did not return the 
salutation until he finished his prayer. The mag- 
nate waited patiently and asked him then : " Is it 
not written in thy scriptures, 'keep thy soul very 
carefully ? ' Suppose when I saluted thee and thou 
didst not respond, I would have cut off thy head, 
whose fault would it have been ? " '' My lord," re- 
plied the pious Jew, "suppose thou wouldst stand 
in conversation with a king or sovereign and some 
one would pass by and salute thee, wouldst thou 
turn from the king and return the salute ? " " Ah, 
that I could not," said the magnate, " because woe 
would be unto me to slight the king in such man- 
ner." " If then a king, who is mortal like we are," 
explained the traveller, " would punish thee for 
feeling himself slighted, how much more careful 
should we be in reverence of a king who is the king 
of all the kings, before whom I stood when thou 
hast approached me? " The magnate was satis- 
fied with the explanation and allowed the traveller 
to pursue his journey unmolested. 

— Beracheth, 32 b. 



TALMUD1C AND OTHER LEGENDS. 1 59 



ENVY IS NOT PROFITABLE. 

"And God made two great luminaries ; the greater lumi- 
nary to rule by day, and the smaller luminary to rule by night." 
— Gen. i. 16. 

Why is it first stated two great luminaries, and 
then one greater and one smaller ? When God 
created the sun and the moon they were equal in 
brightness, but the moon, being envious that her 
sister's brilliancy should equal hers, asked in 
accents of jealousy : " What is it necessary for that 
two kings should wear the same crowns ? " No 
sooner had she expressed this than she became 
pale and dark with not even as much brightness 
as a star possesses. She at once repented and 
began to pray for tender mercies. Her prayer 
was responded to by an angel of God : " Because 
thou wert envious of thy sister's equal glory with 
thine, thou wert entirely deprived of lustre ; but thy 
prayer was heard and, therefore, thou shalt still 
shine, but only at night and through the light 
borrowed from the sun, and that according to how 
she shall pass thee." 

—Rabb., 8 a. 



INDISCREET HELP. 

A Babylonian, once travelling, seated himself on 
the wayside to rest and saw two birds fighting 
with one another, and one grasped the other and 
killed it. The same moment the living bird de- 



l6o TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

scended, picked a certain grass, and touched with 
it the face of the dead bird, and it came to life 
again. The traveller seeing this, took with him 
from the same grass, thinking to raise all the dead 
buried in the land of Israel. Thus he resumed 
his journey. On the road he found a dead fox, he 
touched the lifeless animal with this grass and, 
behold, it came to life, arose, and leaped away. 
He travelled further and he came to a high rock, 
there he saw a dead lion. He applied to him also 
this grass, and the lion too arose, and lived, but at 
the same time grabbed his resuscitator and tore 
him to pieces. This is as Solomon has it: " As 
to bind a precious stone in a sling " (Prov. xxvi. 8). 

— Vayikra A'abba, 11. 



POWER OF SPEECH. 

Two able logicians were once displaying their 
talent before Emperor Hadrian, one endeavoring 
to excel the other. The first in forcible terms il- 
lustrated the power of speech, what it can effect 
socially, intellectually, commercially, and in every 
branch of life; while the other took his position in 
favor of silence. 

He began to illustrate the advantages of silence, 
when the first stepped forward and slapped him in 
the mouth, stopping him from proceeding with his 
argument. 

The emperor, somewhat displeased, addressed 
the first : " What argument do you call that, pre- 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. l6l 

venting your opponent from speaking, in such a 
manner?" " Sire," retorted he, "have I not ar- 
gued the advantages of speech ? And now comes 
my antagonist desiring to substantiate his argu- 
ment, which is on silence, with speech, thus using 
my own weapon to fight me." He was the victor. 

—Jalkut, 212 b. 



SINGULAR UPRIGHTNESS. 

Rab. Safra had a valuable jewel for sale, for 
which some merchants offered him five gold pieces, 
but he had asked for it ten, which the merchants 
were unwilling to give, and they departed. 
After mature consideration, Rab Safra came to the 
conclusion that the stone was not worth more than 
five gold pieces, and decided to sell it for that. 
In the mean time, the merchants needing the stone 
concluded to pay the price asked for it, and 
returned next day to R. Safra's house. " We 
came," said they, " to offer you two more pieces 
for the jewel than we offered yesterday, will you 
let us have it ? " R. Safra at this time stood in 
prayer and would not answer. The merchants 
mistook this silence for his refusal of the offer and 
expressed their willingness to give him ten pieces, 
as he asked yesterday. As R. Safra concluded 
his prayers he told the merchants that he decided 
to sell it for five pieces and that he would take no 
more under any circumstances. 

— Baba bathta, 88 a^. 



l62 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 



LIE AND VICE. 

When Noah had finished the ark and was ad- 
mitting into it all and everything as commanded 
by God, Lie also came and asked for admittance ; 
but Noah refused her admittance on the ground 
that he must admit a pair of every living thing. 
Lie, thus turned away from the ark, went in 
search after a mate and, after considerable pursuit, 
found Vice. She tried to induce him to go with 
her, but he would not associate with Lie. They 
finally came to the agreement that Lie would give 
all her profits she will ever make to Vice, and 
with these conditions they presented themselves be- 
fore the ark as a pair and were admitted. After 
the deluge was over and they left the ark, 
Lie repented of her agreement, but she could im- 
possibly alter it ; and so it remained forever. 
The psalmist has it in these terms: " Behold, he 
travaileth with iniquity and has conceived mis- 
chief, and brought forth falsehood." (Pslm.vii. 14.) 

— -Jalkut Gen., 14 a. 



WHY ISRAEL WAS CHOSEN BY GOD. 

A certain king had among others a purple 
robe of which he constantly reminded his ser- 
vant to take special care. This reminder came 
so often and so repeatedly that the servant's curios- 
ity was aroused, and he ventured to ask: "Why, O 



TALMUD IC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 163 

king, should this robe be taken more care of than 
the hundreds of other robes?" " Because," said 
the king, " this robe is the dearest to me, for 
I wore it on that day I was placed on my throne." 

Likewise said Moses to the Holy One, blessed 
be He, " Why, O God, speakest thou to me of 
Israel so repeatedly and continually ? Are not all 
nations thy children? " 

" They are," said the Lord, " and I love all, which 
is manifest from the grace and mercy I extend to 
all, but I have chosen Israel to be my first-born 
son (see Exodus iv. 22) because they were the 
first who recognized me and proclaimed my king- 
dom and existence upon earth." 

—Jalkut, 102 b. 



ISRAEL'S SACRIFICE. 

Why did God prescribe Israel to offer sacrifices ? 
Not perhaps that He feeds on or enjoys sacrifice. 
Nay, God says to Israel, believe ye not that sacri- 
fices shall have the power to appease my wrath or 
bend my will, or that ye do me a favor; for not 
according to my will are your sacrifices, but ac- 
cording to your desires. This parable will ex- 
plain : The son of a king habituated himself to 
eat and drink outside of his father's house, as- 
sociating with undignified companions and learned 
ill manners. The king then said, my son, thou 
canst eat and drink all thou desirest, but eat and 
drink at my house. Thus it is with Israel : they 



164 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

were accustomed in Egypt to offer sacrifice, as 
did the Egyptians to their idols, and the Lord 
said, let them have their pleasure in sacrificing, 
but let it be to me, to the true God. 

— Menachot, iio\Jalkut y 176 b. 



THE SYNAGOGUE GOD'S ABODE. 

According to rabbinic literature, the divine law 
is God's daughter, hence : 

A monarch having had only one daughter gave 
her as a wife to a good man. As the wedding, and 
the feast connected with it, was over, the husband 
desired to leave and take his wife with him. The 
monarch addressed him thus: " My daughter I 
cannot withold from thee, and it is hard for me to 
part from her ; yet go in peace, but wheresoever 
ye shall dwell have a little appartment set aside 
for me, where I can dwell with you from time to 
time." Thus gave God His beloved daughter — 
the divine law — to Israel and said : " I cannot with- 
hold her from you, and it is hard for me to part 
with her ; take her then, but consecrate a little 
place for me, wherever ye shall dwell, and I will 
from time to time come and dwell there with you." 

—Rabb., 151 a. 

THE SABBATHIC ANGELS. 

Rabbi Josai ben Jehudah taught : 
When on Sabbath eve (Friday after sundown) 
the pious worshipper leaves the synagogue, two 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 165 

angels, one good and one evil, join and accompany 
him home. Arrived at the house, it depends upon 
the arrangement of the house as to which angel 
shall bless him. If the house has a truly sabbathic 
appearance, i. e, y illuminated for the occasion and 
edibles prepared accordingly, the angel of good 
joyfully exclaims: May thy house enjoy many 
such Sabbaths, to which the angel of evil, though 
reluctantly, has to respond amen. But when the 
house is neglected and indifferently arranged as to 
sabbathic appearance, the angel of evil joyously 
calls out : May thy Sabbaths ever thus appear, 
and the angel of good amidst sighs and tears has 
to respond amen. 

— Sab., page 119 b. 



THE SURETIES OF GOD'S LAW. 

As Israel was ready and willing to accept the 
law from Sinai, the Lord asked for surety that 
they would keep and respect it, and they offered 
their ancestors as surety ; but the Lord said they 
are insufficient, inasmuch as they themselves were 
defective. " Abraham, when I have promised 
him Canaan for inheritance, he asked, whereby 
shall I know it? (Gen. xv. 8) as expressing doubt. 
Isaac loved Esau who was antagonistic to my ex- 
istence. Jacob deceived his father." 

" May then," said Israel, " our future prophets 
become sureties for us." " Neither can I ac- 
cept your prophets," said the Lord. " They, too, 
will have often disobeyed my words." 



\66 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

" Let then our children become sureties," said 
Israel. " Ah ! them I accept with delight," said 
the Lord. " They shall safely keep my ever ex- 
isting law." 



TOLERANCE. 

The wise men of Jabne (a name Jerusalem was 
often called by Talmudic writers) often made 
declarations teaching the people the noble trait of 
tolerance, and here is one specimen that came 
from and was indorsed by all, though spoken 
as by one man : 

" I am, like my neighbor, God's creature, but 
he chooses to live and work in the country while 
I prefer the city. I rise a little later to seek my 
welfare and gain, and he rises earlier toattend to 
his interest ; but as he seeks not my disadvantage 
so must I not seek to injure his interest or stand- 
ing. And should I imagine myself nearer to God 
because, perchance, my occupation is to promote 
knowledge and his is not ? Oh, no ! God esteems 
and rewards all, who do little or do much, ac- 
cording to their desert, and according to their 
intentions." 

— Berachoth, 17 a. 



WHY WOMAN WAS MADE FROM A RIB. 

God hath not made Eve of the head part of 
Adam that she shall not be headstrong; nor of the 
eyes that she shall not see everything and become 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 167 

vain ; nor of the ear that she shall not listen to 
everything and become an eavesdropper ; nor of 
the mouth that she shall not speak too much and 
become a tale-bearer ; nor of the heart that she 
shall not be envious ; nor of the hand that she shall 
not reach for everything- and become extrava- 
gant ; nor of the foot that she shall not be addicted 
to running around and entice others or be enticed 
to temptation and lust, but from the rib was she 
made, a part of the body which is ever hid from 
sight, so that she too shall not be exposed to excess 
but remain in respectable attitude to the public. 

— Rabboth, 20 b. 



OF ALL, GOD IS MOST MERCIFUL. 

Ask wisdom what punishment shall be imposed 
on a sinner, and she answers : " Evil pursue the 
sinners" (Prov. xiii. 21). 

Ask prophecy what punishment shall be im- 
posed on the sinner, and she answers : The soul that 
sinneth shall die " (Ezekiel xvii. 20). 

Ask the law (a name the Pentateuch is known 
by, viz., Torah) what punishment shall be im- 
posed on a sinner, and she answers: "Let him 
bring a trespass offering and it shall atone for 
him " (Lev. v. 7). 

Ask God what shall befall the sinner, and He, 
in simple and merciful expression, says: " Repent 
and live " (Ezekiel xviii. 32). 

— Jalkut, J 1 a. 



l68 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 



GOLDEN ADVICE. 

The disciples of Rabbi Eliezer visited him when 
he was sick, and they begged him to teach them 
the path of life. The sage told them but a few 
words, viz., " Guard the honor of your associates, 
and when ye pray be mindful before whom ye 
pray." ^ 

Rabbi Jochanan ben Zakai when he lay sick and 
was expected to die, his disciples paid him a last 
visit, and they begged that he would bless them. 
The dying master in feeble voice said : "Oh, may 
it be acceptable that your fear of God may be as 
the fear of man. " " Should we not fear God 
more than man ? " asked his disciples with astonish- 
ment. "Ah!" said Rabbi Jochanan, "I were 
satisfied if you would take such care not to sin 
against God as you take care not to offend man." 

— Beracholh, 28. 



A BENEVOLENT THIEF. 

A hypercritic once expressed to Rabban Gam- 
aliel that God was a thief because he stole a rib 
from Adam while he was asleep. The daughter 
of the rabbi begged permission to answer, and 
she said : "A thief came into my apartment and 
stole silver cups, replacing them, however, by 
golden ones. What would you do in the case ? 

" What would I do?" asked the critic, "why, 
I would be perfectly satisfied." " Well, then," 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 169 

responded the damsel, " did not God do likewise? 
He took from Adam a mere rib and left him for it 
a wife." 

— Sanhedrim, 39 a. 



SPAN OF LIFE. 

Man is like that vegetation which sprouts from 
the ground as a tender plant, and gradually grows 
until at last it withers away and perisheth. This, 
O man, should teach thee to live pleasurably, en- 
joying the wealth that is at thy command while 
thou livest ; for, consider, how long may that be ? 
Life may become extinct much sooner than ex- 
pected, and death is sure to come. What matters 
it then if the heirs will inherit a little more or a 
little less? Thou, O man, knowest not even how 
they will prize it, whether they will make good 
use of it or squander it. 

— Erubim, 54 a. 



THE BALM OF LIFE. 

A merchant selling spices, and travelling around 
visiting cities, passed once a certain street calling 
aloud, " Who wants to buy balm of life? Who 
wants to buy balm of life ? " Rabbi Janai hearing 
this ran out and addressed him, " Pray, show me 
that balm of life you offer for sale, for I desire to 
live." And the merchant replied : " Nay, my 
master ! not for thy sake have I uttered those 



I^O TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS, 

words." But Rabbi Janai insisted for the precious 
balm, and the man drew forth a book of Psalms 
showing him the words: "Who is he that de- 
sireth life ? Let him keep his tongue from evil, 
and his lips from slander. Depart from evil and 
do good " (Psalm xxxiv. 12). 

— R abbot k, 182 b. 



FIRE OF RELIGION. 

Why, asks a mcdrasJi (commentary), has the 
Lord proclaimed His Taw on Sinai amidst fire? 
The answer is : because fire was the allegorical 
portraiture of its attributes. 

Those that stay far from it are in darkness and 
cold; those that approach it too closely become 
dazzled and overheated, but those that keep at 
proper distance from it derive the benefit. So it 
is with religion. Keep aloof from it and your 
heart will freeze from inhumanity, and your 
morals will be in the dark. Have too much religion, 
you will become overheated with fanaticism. 
The proper religion is that which will mark you 
a man, a benefit to others as to yourself. 

— Chulin, 6. 



INJUDICIOUS PRAYER. 

" Thou shalt not covet." — ioth. Com. 

King Midas, of Phrygia, it is related, was very 
avaricious, and atone time he prayed to his god 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 171 

lo grant him that everything he would touch 
should turn into gold, and his prayer was grant- 
ed. Every thing he touched became instantly 
gold, and Midas thought himself the happiest 
mortal on earth. But, oh, how soon he saw how 
fallacious his prayer was. Amidst plenty of gold 
starvation stared him in the face, as even the food 
he was to eat changed to gold by his touch. He 
then humbly implored : " O my God, deliver 
me from the curse of gold, that I may again enjoy 
my daily food." 

— Kidushim, 36 a. 



WHY THE DECALOGUE WAS GIVEN 
IN THE WILDERNESS. 

If the Lord had revealed His law unto Israel 
in a certain country, that country would have 
raised itself proudly above the others, thinking 
itself more distinguished than all lands in the 
universe ; therefore the Lord chose a wilderness 
for His divine revelation. He furthermore re- 
vealed His law in the wilderness to indicate that 
as the inhabitants of a wilderness are free (not 
governed by despots or monarchs), so shall those 
observing the law be free. The most obvious 
reason, however, is, that as the law was given 
in the wilderness, it was adapted to no certain 
country and. people ; but every people and 
every country should become possessors of God's 
law. 

— Jalkut, 240 b. 



172 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 



RELIGIOUS LOVE. 

" And thou shalt love the Lord thy God," indi- 
cates that we must endeavor to make ourselves 
beloved by all the creatures of God whom we 
love ; to keep far from sin and deceit. Not only 
as much as concerns the Jews, but also Gentiles 
and everybody. He who will steal from an idol- 
ater will steal from a godly man also ; he who will 
swear falsely against one will do it against the 
other ; who will deceive one will deceive the other; 
who would murder a Gentile would not hesitate 
to murder a Jew neither. The law on Sinai was 
given not to profane, but to sanctify God's name. 

— Jalkut, 267 a. 



A FAITHFUL SHEPHERD. 

As Moses was keeping the sheep of his father- 
in-law in the wilderness, one day a lamb ran away 
from the flock, and Moses went in search of it. 
He found it beneath a shady foliage at a brook 
quenching its thirst, and Moses gently lifted the 
little creature into his arms, speaking to it tenderly : 
" O poor little lamb ! is it thirst that drove thee 
hither? "and carried it back to the flock. God 
then said : " Such faithful shepherd art thou ; then 
be thou the shepherd of my flock Israel. I know 
that thou wilt feed them with love and mercy ; " 
and Moses became the shepherd of Israel. 

— SJcemoth A'abba, 120 a. 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 1 73 



CONSTANCY. 

Akabya ben Mahlalel often expressed his opinion 
in opposition to the rabbins. They endeavored 
to induce him to recall his doctrines, but he 
remained immovable. On one occasion they 
offered him the dignified office of chief of the 
academy if he would but withdraw his opinion, 
but he firmly declined the offer saying : " Rather 
would I be called all days of my life ignorant than 
appear a sinner before God for one hour. Would 
not the people say that I have resigned my con- 
viction for the sake of honor?" 

— Edioth, 5. 



SABBATH VS. WEEK DAYS. 

Rabbi Akiba was once asked by Gov. Turnus- 
rupis, " Why are your Sabbath days considered 
more holy than ordinary days ? " " Why art thou 
considered more eminent than the other people?" 
asked him Rabbi Akiba in return. " Because," 
replied the governor, "I am appointed by the 
king to be governor over them." " So has the 
Lord our God, who is greater than all kings, 
appointed the Sabbath day to be sanctified more 
than the rest of days of the week," concluded 
Rabbi Akiba. 

— Tanchuma, 33. 



174 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 



KEEP ALOOF FROM THE TEMPTER 

" An Amonite and Moabite shall not enter the 
congregation of God." — Deut. xxiii. 4. 

Although the Egyptians and the Edomites 
inflicted upon Israel heavy wounds with weapon 
and oppression, yet Moses bids not to hate them, 
because we were strangers with the Egyptians in 
their land, and Edom is from the same descent as 
we are, but the Amonites and Moabites have 
tempted and seduced Israel to sinfulness ; there- 
fore it is commanded not to admit them in the con- 
gregation of God. 

— Jalkut, 245 b. 



THE MAGNITUDE OF REPENTANCE. 

" And the Lord set a mark upon Cain," etc. 
— Gen. iv. 15. 

After Cain slew his brother Abel and the Lord 
took him to task, he repented, on which account 
the Lord set a mark on him — a mark of security. 
As Adam saw him, he was astonished and asked, 
" How could you appease the wrath of the Lord 
and obtain His gracious protection?" " I have 
sincerely repented, and the Lord in His infinite 
goodness showed me mercy." " Repented ! woe 
unto me ! " moaned Adam, " why knew I not how 
precious in the sight of God repentance is ? I 
also might have turned away His wrath." 

— Jalkut, 11 a. 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 1/5 

GOD IS EVERYWHERE. 

An idolater in conversation with Rabbi Josai 
said to him : " My gods are mightier than thy God, 
and I prove it to you by the very fact that Moses, 
when his God appeared to him in the thorn bush, 
hid his face, but when he saw the serpent, which 
is one of my gods, he fled from it." " Ah ! " 
answered the Hebrew sage, " from our God we 
cannot flee as from yours, for he is on heaven 
and on earth, on sea and on dry land ; but from 
thy god we can flee and be delivered." 

— Rabboth, 121 b. 

A GENEROUS REVENGE. 

Rabbi Meier at one time dwelt at quarters sur- 
rounded by such disagreeable neighbors that at 
one occasion he felt so annoyed that in his forget- 
fulness he exclaimed : " I wish God would take 
them ! " Beruriah, his pious wife, promptly ad- 
monished him thus : " Why should God take the 
sinner? Why not rather the sin? Were it not 
wiser to say : would that God would inspire the 
hearts of these wicked neighbors that they might 
become better ? " 

—Berachoth, 10 a. 



WHO ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOD? 

A certain king had a son who was exceedingly 
desirous of being recognized as the king's son 



I76 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

whithersoever he went, and the father told him : 
" If you so desire to be known as my son, attire 
yourself in my purple robe, put my crown on your 
head, and all will at once recognize thee." 

Thus said the Lord to Israel : "Accept ye my 
law and observe it faithfully, and all will recognize 
you as my children." 

—Rabb., 298 b. 



THE ALTAR A PROMOTER OF LIFE. 

As holy writ miorms us (Exod. xx. 25), the aitar 
was to be built without iron instruments. Why ? 
Because iron furnishes material to shorten man's 
life, while the altar was to be the means of re- 
conciling man with God and promoting life. The 
material, therefore, that furnished instruments of 
murder should not touch God's altar which was to 
lengthen life. 

— Midoth, 34. 



A VIRTUOUS WOMAN. 

— Prov. xxxi. IO-31. 

A virtuous woman, oh, who can find ? 
Far above rubies is precious her kind. 
The heart of her husband in her confides ; 
Thus spoil of riches with them e'er abides. 
Goodness untainted by evil, this wife 
Acquires for her husband throughout her life. 
For wool and for flax she seeketh so fain, 
With two willing hands to work them to gain. 
Food she procureth from laudable' source, 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 1 77 

Like merchandise vessels from distant shores. 

Early she riseth — the night's not yet o'er, 

To see to her house, her maids to care for. 

With provident care she purchaseth lands, 

Planting a vineyard with toil of her hands. 

Her loins girt with strength, her arms firmness bear ; 

She buyeth her goods inspected with care. 

From burning her light all night doth not cease — 

Handling the distaff and spindle with ease, 

The wants of the poor her hands do appease. 

Of snow for her household she's not afraid ; 

For they are in robes of scarlet array 'd. 

Tapestried covers herself she prepares ; 

Dresses of silk and scarlet she wears. 

Her husband is well known within the gates, 

Where with the wise of the land he debates. 

He selleth the linen which she has made, 

And girths she prepares supplieth the trade. 

Her days end in joy — her lips wisdom say ; 

Precepts of kinds her tongue doth display — 

Even her garments do firmness betray. 

She keeps of her household due oversight ; 

Of idleness void she eateth her diet. 

Her children, duly to praise her, arise ; 

With commendation her husband replies. 

Many a daughter has virtuously done, 

Yet thou excellest them all — ev'ry one! 

Grace is deceitful and beauty is vain ; 

The God-fearing woman's praise will remain. 

Oh, give her the honor she reaps by her hands ! 

Her acts be her praise in the gates of all lands ! 



SOLOMON AND ASHMEDAL 

The gorgeous temple of Solomon, Scripture 
tells (i Kings vi. 7) us, was built without hammer 
or any instrument of iron, which gave the wise king 
no little anxiety ; and it was no common under- 
taking to accomplish, what no human being had 
accomplished before him. Consequently, he one 
day assembled his counsellors to devise ways and 
means as to how the house of God should be built. 
He addressed them thus : 

" Ye know that the Lord commanded through 
Moses that His altars should be built from stone 
without iron tools (Deut. xxvii. 5) and I am about to 
erect a house to the sanctity of the One God, can 
you advise me how stones could be cut without 
iron?" " We can only inform thee, O King," re- 
plied the counsellors, "that there exists a small 
insect called Shamir* which Moses already em- 
ployed in making the Ephod. Its sharpness no 
stone, however hard, can withstand." " Where," 
asked Solomon, " can this creature be found?" 
"That," said they, "we cannot tell thee. But 



* Tradition relates that this minute insect was created with other 
things (ten in number) at twilight on the sixth day of creation ; and 
derived its name, no doubt, from the nature of its office, as Shamir 
in Hebrew is a sharp point. 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 1 79 

thou, O King, hast power even o\ r er spirits,* com- 
mand, therefore, that a demon pair be brought be- 
fore thee, and torture them, if necessary, until they 
disclose its whereabouts." Forthwith two demons 
were conjured, and Solomon demanded that 
they disclose the abode of the Shamir, but they 
declared, " We know not where the Shamir abides, 
but Ashmedai, our king, may perchance know all 
about it." " Where can your king be found?" 
was the inquiry. " He resorts to a remote moun- 
tain," was the reply. " There he dug a deep 
cavity which he occasionally fills with clear water 
wherewith to quench his thirst daily. This cavity 
is covered with a stone and sealed with his signet, 
so that nobody should open it in his absence with- 
out his detection. Daily he visits the heavens and 
makes a circuit of the earth to espy everything, 
and at dusk he returns to his mountain to refresh 
himself with the pure water. He then reseals the 
cavity carefully and flies away again to ramble in 
the darkness of the night;" and they described the 
whereabouts of the mountain. 

Benajah, the son of Jehojada, was now called 
and entrusted with the mission of capturing the 
demon king. For this purpose Solomon supplied 
him with his own signet ring and a chain both 

* This idea is an erroneous inference from the passage in Eccl. ii. 
8, where Solomon says, " I had shedo and shedoth?' man singers 
and women singers, but somehow or other these words were con- 
founded with the Talmudic shedah and she din — he and she demons 
— which caused the misapplication of acceding to Solomon the 
power over the demons. 



l8o TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

bearing the engraving- of the ineffable name of 
the Most High, so peculiarly executed that it pos- 
sessed the power of enchantment; several casks of 
wine were also provided and bundles of wool, 
then the instruction ; and Benajah departed to 
seek the demon chief. After considerable travel 
and search, he found the spot exactly as described, 
and he immediately went to work according to 
instructions by Solomon which were these : He 
undermined the cavity, thus drawing off the water, 
then fastened the hole with the wool and covered 
it to an unrecognizable extent. Then he dug 
a hole above this and emptied the wine into the 
cavity, thus replacing the water. This hole he 
also closed like the lower one and withdrew to a 
neighboring tree which he climbed, thence to watch 
and await the arrival of Ashmedai. At his usual 
hour he arrived and inspected the mountain all 
around carefully, then looked at the seal which he 
found intact, and he broke it. He rolled away the 
stone and was about to sip the fluid when he 
sprang to his feet, exclaiming " Wine ! how came it 
hither? Nay, 1 will not drink it, for * wine is a 
mocker ' (Proverbs xx. i), and 1 shall not become a 
derision ! " This, however, was only said, for his 
burning thirst bid him otherwise. Instead of leav- 
ing in quest of pure water he lingered there, smell- 
ing again and again the fragrant odor issuing from 
that glorious wine until temptation* overtook him; 

* This is intended for a lesson that we shall not, like the demon, 
despise a thing and then still linger around it until temptation shall 
overtake us, and we become a prey to misery. Especially with the 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. l8l 

and he quenched his thirst with the intoxicating 
beverage. His thirst demanded more and more 
until he lay prostrated on the ground intoxicated 
and unconscious. Silently Benajah descended 
from the tree, approached the drunken chief and 
laid the enchanting chain on his neck. How raged 
Ashmedai when he awoke and found himself in 
chains, but Benajah called out, " Waste not thy 
anger and thy strength, for, behold, thou art fet- 
tered by a holy name ! " Ashmedai glanced at the 
chain, and, recognizing the fact that he was in the 
power of Benajah, he became calm and resistless, 
and permitted himself to be led away. Inwardly, 
however, his rage was burning, and on the way he 
played sad havoc with anything and everything 
that chanced to be in his way. Trees, fences, 
houses and everything he touched fell to the 
ground. 

He was about to approach a poor widow's hut, 
when she came out begging him piteously to spare 
her humble abode, to which he yielded, and stepped 
aside, at the same time he hurt his arm, and he 
scornfully cried, " I ought to have known that ' a 
soft tongue breaketh the bone ' " (Prov. xx. 16). 

Farther on a blind man was straying from his 
path and would have become entangled in a thorny 
bush, when Ashmedai, unsolicited, sprang to his 
rescue and led him into the right way. This as- 
tonished Benajah and he asked, " How is it that 



cup ; hover not around it, if you know that it is not compatible 
with your constitution or habit. 



1 82 TaLMUDIC and other legends. 

erst you were sorry that you spared the poor 
widow's house, while here you were so willing to 
assist? " 

" Ah," replied Ashmedai, " not for his sake, but 
for my own benefit have I helped him. I have 
heard it announced in heaven that he is a good and 
pious man, and any one that will bestow on him a 
favor will reap great reward ; hence I have served 
him, to share myself the benefit of reward." 

Further on they met a drunkard who in his 
drunkenness was off the road, and another step 
would have thrown him into a deep pit and probably 
cost him his life. Ashmedai leaped to his assistance 
and put him on the straight road. 

" Why hast thou shown this favor to this man ? " 
asked Benajah. " This man," replied Satan, " I 
have helped to his own disadvantage. He is a 
corrupt man, and whatever little reward he de- 
serves, I wanted him to obtain in this world. "* 

On their journey they arrived at a place 
where a wedding was consummated and Ashmedai 
began to weep aloud. " Why weepest thou when 
all others are rejoicing ? " asked him Benajah. 
" I weep, because I cannot rejoice when others 
are jubilant,f but in thirty days the twain will be 
parted by death, then will I rejoice." 

* Tradition has it that many reap their reward here, and will have 
so much less in the future world, and vice versa, according to their 
deserts. 

f A demon is always contrary, of course ; and this allegory is to 
illustrate the absurdity of such trait, and teaches us to train our 
manners differently. Endeavor to harmonize with your fellow-men, 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 1 83 

Onward they travelled, and on the road they 
overheard one wishing he could get a pair of 
sandals to last him seven years, and Ashmedai 
laughed aloud. " Why laughest thou ?" inquired 
Benajah. " Shouldn't I laugh at this fool ? " re- 
sponded the chief. " He wants sandals to last him 
seven years, and behold in seven days he will be 
lifeless." * At one place they met a wizard who 
was foretelling times and things, giving counsel to 
many who sought him, at which the satanic mon- 
arch laughed again ; and to Benajah's inquiry re- 
plied, " The blind fool ! he foretelleth things to 
others and doth not know that a rich treasure is 
buried right beneath him." 

After many such incidents that astonished Bena- 
jah, they at last reached Jerusalem, and Ash- 
medai was introduced to King Solomon, The 
court rose to do homage to his satanic majesty, 
but the demon chief, heedless of this, grasped a 
cane and marked on it the measure of four gar- 
midsf and hurled it toward where Solomon sat 
enthroned. When asked what this meant, he said, 
" Behold a king of dust and earth, who, when he 
dieth, four garmidim will hold him ; and yet he is 
not satisfied to hold all surrounding countries in 
subjection, but had yet to subdue me, the prince 
of spirits ! Why, O Solomon, didst thou thus de- 
rejoice when they rejoice, but rejoice not when they weep, nor weep 
when they rejoice, for such is a demoniacal nature. 

* This is intended to teach us the lesson that we should not covet, 
but feel contented with our lot, and not wish and desire for what 
we do not even know whether we will live to enjoy. 
f V. certain measure — about thirty-seven inches. 



184 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

ride me? " " Tardon," said Solomon, " I have not 
derided thee, nor have I subdued thee for my own 
aggrandizement, but for the sake of seeking thy 
information as to the whereabouts of the Shamir, 
in order to enable me to build a sanctuary to the 
service of the Most High — mine and thy God." 
" I have no control over the Shamir," said Ashme- 
dai. " It is under the protectorate of the prince 
of the seas and waters, who entrusted it into the 
care of the prince of the hills and mountains, held 
by solemn oath and obligation for the responsibili- 
ty of that insect." " Where is this prince of hills 
and mountains to be found ? " asked Solomon. " He 
is to be found," said Ashmedai, " in a barren wil- 
derness, where the feet of a human being never 
trod. He is a wood grouse, flying to and fro, car- 
rying with him the Shamir on all his journeys." 
This information gave Benajah another charge. 
He was directed now to seek the abode of the 
prince of hills and mountains, and he traversed 
through forests and deserts until he espied the 
barren rocky mountains described by Ashmedai. 
He searched carefully every place until he finally 
found the nest of the wood grouse filled with 
young ones. A happy thought came to his mind, 
and in another instant he had a stone rolled over 
the nest, and then withdrew to watch and wait for 
results. Fortunately it was not long before the 
bird-prince came flying along, and seeing a stone 
rolled over the nest of his young ones, he descend- 
ed and tried to open the nest, but his efforts were 
in vain. Swiftly he flew away, and soon returned 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 1 85 

with the Shamir, placing it on the stone in order 
to cut it asunder ; at the same instant Benajah 
struck a loud noise which frightened the wood 
grouse away, and Benajah leaped from his hiding 
place to the Shamir, grasped it and drew home- 
ward. All attempts of the wood grouse to regain 
it were futile ; and fearful of the account he had to 
give he forced his neck between two rocks and 
choked himself to death. The Shamir was brought 
to Jerusalem and the gorgeous temple was built. 
Long had the house been completed and Ashme- 
dai was yet held captive by Solomon for the sake 
of obtaining such knowledge from him as he could 
learn from none other ; but the spirit-chief was so 
reticent that to all of Solomon's catechizings he 
would answer nothing beyond the explanation of 
his deportment while on the road with Benajah, 
his captor. One day Solomon became too inquis- 
tive, and as they were alone in the royal chamber 
he asked the demon chief to show him some of his 
power. " Demand it not, O son of earth !" said 
Ashmedai, admonishingly, " for thou wilt surely 
rue it." " Rue it ? " observed Solomon amusedly. 
" Nay, I have never yet rued whatever I desired 
and whatever I demanded." " If this be so," said 
Ashmedai, " remove this chain from me, and give 
me thy ring for only one moment." Without 
consideration Solomon removed the chain and 
handed him his ring. The same instant the black 
demon arose to a monstrous size ; his large, fierce 
black eyes were glowing like fire ; his lips we're 
opened in a grin, disclosing his ivory-white, needle- 



186 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

pointed clenched teeth ; and ere Solomon could 
realize his terrible condition three thunder-like 
crashes were heard, which burst asunder the 
canopy and roof above them, and he was swung 
out into the air with the ring whirring after him. 
Solomon was thrown away to a distance of over 
fifteen hundred miles, into a strange land, and the 
ring flew above the sea where it fell, burying itself 
in the bottomless brine. Ashmedai now assumed 
the form of Solomon, seating himself on his throne 
and reigning as King of Israel, with none to know 
the imposture. 

As Solomon awoke from his stupor he found 
himself a stranger in a strange land, forlorn and 
destitute ; * then it was when he chronicled the 
words, " What profit hath a man of all his labors 
which he taketh under the sun?" (Eccl. i. 3.) 
Three years he wandered in this position, often 
repeating the words, " I, the preacher, was king 
over Israel in Jerusalem " (Eccl. i. 12) ; but he was 
laughed at. In the land of the Ammonites he suc- 
ceeded in obtaining a position at the king's kitchen 
to assist the chief cook, in which capacity he 
often found opportunity to display his wisdom, 
whereby he attracted the king's attention. The 
keen eye of the princess, however, discovered in 
Solomon a superiority, and she became infatuated 
with him. Solomon, appreciating her generosity, 
reciprocated the love, and regardless of her high 

* This is intended for a lesson that when we live in affluence not 
to be haughty and vain, but be mindful of how suddenly our position 
may change; to be, therefore, ever meek and kind. 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 1 87 

and his low position they were united in wedlock. 
This drew the displeasure of the king upon the 
couple, and he passed sentence of death on both ; 
but Solomon's eloquence aroused the paternal 
feelings of the king toward his own child, and he 
changed the sentence to that of banishment into 
a barren wilderness. 

Again Solomon was destined to wander, but 
this time he had his faithful, loving wife, Naamah, 
to share his misfortune. Together they were 
ready to live or to perish. Jerusalem he feared to 
seek, for he thought that Ashmedai had his ring, 
the instrument to destroy him with, so he had to 
look for other quarters for retribution. 

It then pleased the Lord to cease punishing 
Solomon any longer for his past haughty conduct, 
and brought him and his wife safely into a city. 
With a few pieces of silver he had yet in his 
pocket he proceeded to purchase some victuals, 
and seeing some fishermen he bought a fish which 
he handed to Naamah to prepare. She opened 
the fish, and, to her great surprise, found in it a 
heavy gold ring of peculiar make and of great 
value. On the ring was engraven a name she 
could not read, and amidst joy she called for her 
liege who at once recognized it as his ring. 

With praise to God on his lips he placed it on 
his finger and his sorrow vanished. 

It was the ring which Ashmedai flung away 
and fell into the sea ; a fish had swallowed it, and 
the fishermen caught the fish which the Lord had 
destined to be brought to Solomon, by virtue of 



155 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

which he and his beloved Naamah soon reached 
Jerusalem. 

He sought the counsel of the wise men, but 
who could believe Solomon's declaration ? Bena- 
jah was then summoned and asked his opinion ; 
and he was the first that paid credence to Solo- 
mon's narrative. He gave his reasons that the 
king formerly loved him and consulted him, while 
the present king returned hatred for love, 
and that he was but seldom admitted into his 
presence. 

It was then deemed advisable to usher Solomon 
into the king's presence and see the result. This 
was done; but no sooner had Ashmedai beheld 
Solomon with the glittering ring on his finger 
than he flew out through the window and van- 
ished. 

Solomon again ascended the throne, but such 
was his fear of demons that he had ever thereafter 
sixty valiant men to guard his bed when he slept 
at night (see Songs of Solomon, iii. 7-8). 

Solomon now summoned the king of the Am- 
monites to appear before his presence ; and after 
some preliminaries he made himself known to him. 
It is useless to say how glad he was to recognize 
and accept him as son-in-law, whereafter a great 
feast was made, and the king of the Ammonites 
returned home joyful and happy that his daughter 
was alive and in glory as the wife of the wise king 
Solomon, who now reigned over Israel in Jeru- 
salem. — Gittai, 68 col 



GEMS FROM THE TALMUD. 

The signet of God is truth. 

Say little and do much. 

First learn, then teach. 

The ignorant cannot be truly pious. 

Teach thy tongue to say I do not know. 

Few are they who see their own faults. 

Do not rely upon thy own understanding. 

Rejoice not when thy enemy falleth. 

Who aggrandizes his name, 

He diminishes his fame. 

Rather be the tail of lions than the head of 
foxes. 

The measure one meteth with is meted unto 
him. 

Light shines equally as well to a hundred as to 
one. 

Who would need a light, 

When the sun shines bright ? 

It is futile to open the eyes when the heart is 
blind. 

Hospitality is as essential to religion as divine 
worship. 

Happy is the pupil whose teacher approves his 
words. 



190 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

Wisdom God giveth only to him who hath 
wisdom. 

As the wine goes in the secret goes out. 

May your fear of God be as the fear of man. 

No vessel like peace can hold blessing. 

He whose head ic narrow has [generally] a broad 
tongue. 

Go to sleep without supper, but rise without 
debt. 

Silence is good to the wise, how much more to 
the fool ? 

Silence is the limit of wisdom. 

Beautiful are the words of those who practise 
what they teach. 

Respect the children of the poor, for from them 
proceeds the law. 

Cast no mud into that well whence thou drawest 
water. 

When two quarrel, the one who ceases first is 
the wiser. 

Love peace and pursue it — love all thy fellow- 
creatures. 

A miser is to be considered as wicked as an 
idolater. 

Thy secret is thy slave ; set it tree and thou be- 
comest its slave. 

Love those who correct thee more than those 
who flatter thee. 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 191 

The ultimate end of all laws is to unite in love 
all mankind. 

He who will not listen to thy words, refrain from 
speaking to him. 

Let the honor of thy pupil be as precious to thee 
as thine own. 

The just of all denominations have a portion in 
the future reward. 

Let the financial standing of thy associates please 
thee as thine own. 

Where the teacher is disrespected the name of 
God is profaned. 

Thy yesterday is thy past, thy to-day thy future, 
thy to-morrow is a secret. 

Grasp for little and thou mayest secure it ; grasp 
for much and thou wilt get nothing. 

If thou sittest amongst wise men be more inclined 
to listen than to speak. 

Wrong neither thy brother in faith nor him who 
differs from thee in faith. 

Man may become known by three things, viz., 
his purse, his cup, and his anger. 

There are some who preach beautifully but 
practise not this beautiful doctrine. 

Like birds of one feather flock together, so 
children of man to their like. 

Do not utter a thing on mere assumption that it 
will come to pass. 



I92 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

To relieve thyself of doubt, appoint thee an in- 
structor. 

Judge not thy associate until thou hast been 
placed in his position. 

In whatsoever the spirit of man findeth favor, 
the spirit of God surely findeth favor. 

The indestructible monument of the truly pious 
is their good deeds. 

Wisdom secluded within itself is like a myrtle 
in the desert — it rejoices none. 

Not the commentary (of divine law) is the prin- 
cipal object, but the practice of it. 

Refrain not from accepting the truth from 
whencesoever it emanates, even from inferiors. 

He who cares not to hear one word (of reproof) 
may have to hear later many words. 

Man sees a mote in his neighbor's eye, but a 
beam in his own he cannot perceive. 

An instructor appoint thee, but an associate thou 
shalt purchase ; and judge everybody deservedly. 

Where the book (law and intelligence) is, there 
is no sword, and where the sword is, there's surely 
no book. 

Where there is no law there are no manners ; 
where there are no manners there is no law. 

Where there is no wisdom there is no fear of 
God ; where there is no fear of God there is no 
wisdom. 

Where there is no knowledge there is no under- 



TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 1 93 

standing; where there is no understanding there 
is no knowledge. 

Where there is no flour (food) there can be no 
law (the studv of it) ; where there is no law there 
is no flour. 

The best preacher is the heart, the best teacher 
is time, the best book is the world, and the best 
friend is God. 

Know whence thou comest, whither thou goest, 
and before whom thou wilt have to give account 
in judgment. 

If I will not provide for me, who will? If I am 
to provide for me, who am I ? And if I provide 
not now, when shall I ? 

Despise not any man, nor disregard any thing ; 
for there is not a man who hath not his time, nor 
a thing that hath not its place. 

If one induces another to perform a good deed, 
it is as meritorious in him as though he had 
performed it himself. 

If a word spoken in time is worth one piece of 
money, silence in its time is certainly worth two. 

The world stands on three things, viz., on law, 
on (divine) service, and on the practice of charity. 

The world exists on three things, viz., on truth, 
justice, and peace. 

Happy is the generation where the old listens 
to the young, but happier still is that generation 
where the young listens to the old. 

Sins committed against God the day of atone- 



194 TALMUDIC AND OTHER LEGENDS. 

ment is given for their expiation, but sins committed 
against a fellow-man the day of atonement will not 
expiate, unless they are first pardoned by the in- 
jured fellow-man. 

Have a soft reply to turn away anger, and let 
thy peace be abundant with thy brother, with thy 
friend, and with everybody, even with the Gentile 
in the street, that thou shalt be beloved above and 
esteemed below (in heaven and earth). 

Do not attempt to appease thy neighbor at the 
moment he is in wrath, nor console while his dead 
lies before him. Ask naught of him at the moment 
he has made a vow, nor endeavor to see him in 
his adversity. 

Man receives three names : One from his 
parents, one from the world, and one from his 
works. Which is the best one ? Solomon has it : 
" A good name is better than good oil (the sweet 
perfume it bears)." 

Rabbi Nechunia was once asked by his disci- 
ples : Wherewith prolongest thou life?" and he 
replied : " I never sought my honor at the ex- 
pense of my associate's degradation, and a wrong 
done to me, its thought never went with me to 
bed." 

Who is wise? He who learns from everybody. 
Who can be considered strong? He who conquers 
his own passion. Who can be considered rich? 
He who rejoices with his portion. Who is worthy 
to be honored ? He who honoreth his fellow-crea- 
tures. 



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